Since my mother, Mary Albers,  passed away, I’ve felt rather listless. Mom had a knack for helping me put life into perspective. And, now that she’s “shuffled off this mortal coil”…I’ve felt a little out of my element… so to speak. It’s one thing to know that you are OK, but it’s completely another to actually “know” it.

Now that I have another “failed” relationship under my belt, I find myself in a state of searching. “For what,” you ask? Well, it’s feels rather nebulous at the moment. Like a steaming cup of coffee after you’ve poured-in some half-and-half, but before you’ve stirred it completely. All those creamy tentacles reaching out to every nook and cranny of the cup.

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The family is celebrating both mine and my step-father’s birthday’s this weekend. This is the first time we’ve been together as a family since my mother’s, Mary Albers, funeral. We’ve been going through Mom’s jewelry and got a real kick out of the items she had stuffed in her Korean-style jewelry cabinet.

And now for a trip down Memory Lane…

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Mom and Emmett

I finally constructed my ‘door-as-desk’ project and am now placing my belongings in a more fashionable place: my desk (as opposed to the kitchen table). However, my evening unpacking has lead me to rediscover a small piece of paper. On the folded scrap of white printer paper, I inscribed the following note:

• HR – 128
• BP – 86/46 (61)
• SpO2 – 99
• 250ml/hr

These are my mother’s, Mary Albers, (God rest her soul) evening medical stats that I scribbled during one of my many visits to the University of Iowa Hospitals. I reported them to my family in an email when I got home from the hospital.

I miss her so much.

Monday night at 8:23pm, in the Palliative Care section of the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City, my mother, Mary Albers, slipped quietly from our world and into God’s hands. It is difficult to moment to describe, but was certainly the weirdest, yet most awe inspiring moment I have ever witnessed…and one will never forget.

Mom waged a long battle with congestive heart disease, following a bout of Rheumatic Fever brought on by an untreated case of strep-throat back in the late 1950′s. Rheumatic Fever is responsible for many of the cases of damaged heart-valves worldwide, of which the late Lou Costello was also a victim. Mom had elected for open-heart surgery nearly six weeks ago, but her physical strength was not enough to allow her the opportunity to recuperate. She was simply too weak.

This will be a difficult time for surviving family. Although we have always lived our lives with Mom’s serious health issues hanging above our heads, we had all (including Mom) chosen to do so to the fullest regardless. Her absence will be sorely missed, yet will be a continuing testament to those who refuse to sit on the sidelines and allow life to pass them by. I pray that we all have the opportunity to be that strong in our faith.

NOTE: Funeral arrangements have been finalized for Mary with visitation set from 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 24th at Phillips Funeral Home in Keystone and the Funeral at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Van Horne at 3:00 p.m on Friday, July 25th.  The Committal Service will be at the Keystone Cemetery after the Church Service and a lunch will be provided back at the Church following the Committal Service.  Further information may be found on Phillips Funeral Home web site!  Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

We thank all of you for your continued support