Four Years Gone

I'm a bit ashamed of myself right now!  I was so caught up with the craziness at work that I completely overlooked the anniversary of my dear mother Nora Reilly West's death!  Last Friday, August 24th marked 4 years since she died.  I also overlooked what would have been my father John M. West's 89th birthday on August 14th!  Shame on me!  Work is no excuse for forgetting important family dates like these!

I'll never forget the day that she died.  We were on a Mediterranean Cruise in the middle of the ocean en-route to Athens, Greece and it was around 1 AM when the phone rang.  It was my brother, Mark calling to tell me that Mom was in the hospital and that he thought that this might be it for her.  We talked for a while and I asked him to call me immediately with any changes in her condition.  He called back at 3 am to tell me she had died.

Her death was a bittersweet experience.  Mom had been ill with Dementia for over a year and was deteriorating rapidly.  It was so sad not to be able to see her again, but frankly, my mother was gone about 1-1/2 years before her actual death due to her Dementia. 

Our cruise ship pulled into the Port of Athens a few hours after she died.  We had purchased tickets to go ashore and visit Athens and my husband asked if I wanted to cancel since Mom died.  I refused to cancel because I knew my mother would have wanted for me to go see Athens and all of the other stops on our cruise!  So we went up and toured the Acropolis and Parthenon in honor of my mother!  Here is a picture that I took of the Parthenon when we visited there on the day that Mom died:

The Parthenon

And here is a picture of my dear mother, Nora:

Nora Reilly West

Rest in peace, Mom!  I love and miss you very much!