re: #94 teleskiguy

Her and I are great. Her on her own? Well, shit. Remains to be seen. Elder sisters are taking some steps to get Mom out there.

I live with Mom now, and tonight her and I were talking and for the first time she said the words “new life” in a sentence in front of me. Mom has always been resilient.

I think that is very much how my mother approached things after my father died. It was a new phase with new opportunities and different challenges. I think she got a lot of closure when she put her wedding band in the box we interred my father’s ashes in at the memorial service.

About a year later she moved back east and settled in northwestern PA (Meadville). That put her a few houses drive from both her surviving children and also not that far from my aunt who she went to Elderhostel events with. This also worked out for holidays for a few years since I often would go north to my brother’s house for Christmas and I could pick her up on the way and save her the driving effort.

And she maintained a good set of activities while her health lasted. Did volunteer work with the local library and UU Church. And also found a new hiking group and helped with rail-to-trails work in the region.

I miss my parents, but it’s also part of the transitions that happen in life. They live on in my memories which to a large degree is a person’s true legacy. And from what you have seen your father made a solid positive impression in a lot of people.