Today is the first anniversary of my mother’s death. I didn’t get to see her before she died as I was recovering from surgery myself – I wasn’t expecting it to happen so quickly even though she was bed ridden and had suffered a number of small strokes which destroyed her memory and left her unable to speak towards the end.
I suppose you always expect your parents to go on forever – it’s a shock when they die even though you know it will happen sooner rather than later. I regret not being able to see her for the last time, to hold her hand and tell her that I love her – even though she hadn’t recognised me for a few years. So my message is visit them, phone them or even just send them a card to let them know you care – your parents won’t be around forever.