Watching Jacob

***From Our Mothers blog***

The Saturday before my mother’s death my sister Angie and I stayed overnight with her. From the couch where we tried to sleep we could only see her legs on the chair in front of us. If they started moving, we both jumped up and looked to see if she was alright. When her legs weren’t moving, we brought our faces close to hers to make sure she was still breathing. At one point in the night, in a fatigue-induced hysteria, we were laughing on the floor behind our mother’s chair. Surprisingly, this is a pleasant memory; laughing with the sister who is also my friend. We realized were not going to get any sleep at all unless we took turns sitting in front of my mother’s recliner and watching her. Only then could we sleep, knowing the other was watching our mother.

When my daughter and her husband were brought into my grandson Jacob’s room late yesterday afternoon they witnessed a spectacle no parent needs to see; their son fighting to rise from the bed and desperately trying to communicate with a tube going down his throat........
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