This is the last photo I have of my Mom. It shows her vanity and her sense of humor. We had taken her to the doctor and convinced her to go to lunch even though she couldn't really eat, we wanted to spend time with her out of the house. I think this was the last time she ever left the house with us. No she attempted to go camping in early august spent one night and Dad brought her home. Anyway today Aug 11 one year ago is when we knew she was going to leave us soon. Dad, Gail and I had such a hard day. It consisted of picking mom up off the floor three times, moving mom every five to fifteen minutes because she couldn't get comfortable, from the bed to the couch to the chaise lounge to the front room to the backyard over and over for 12 hours. Finally a Hospital bed was delivered but she wouldn't stay in it. One of the most un-nerving falls that I witnesses occurred when she scooted to the foot of the bed and leaned out and fell face first on to the carpet just missing the massive wood corner of the bed she shared with my father for 7 years. That is when we decided to send her to the In Patient Unit for comfort care.

Hospice of Arizona was fantastic, we got literature on the stages of dying and I figured we had a week left with her. I called Chad and Kim and they drove out immediately (she was five months pregnant with Caleb) mom really wanted to live until her first grandchild was born but that wasn't Gods plan. Essentially in the IPU she was given meds to control the pain and the brains urge to fight, in order to let the dying process be easy and comfortable because it really is painful until the very end.

Over the next few days I will write about that week and what we did as a family, a neighborhood and with the fabulous staff of Plaza Del Rio IPU.