Losing Loved Ones from Far Away
The end of May was hard. We lost 2 loved ones just 10 days apart, one a close friend and the other my mom. Both were expected, as much as death can be, but being halfway around the world added another layer of emotion, I think. We're still processing in our own different ways, and I imagine we will be for a long time yet. When we moved, I heavily suspected that the goodbye hug with my mom was going to be my last hug with her. We continued to have weekly phone calls, which we'd done since before the pandemic. There have been various periods in which I knew things weren't great for her and I wondered if it would be our last call. I tried to treat each one as if it was and I did my best to pull her along with me in my stories, to bring her a few moments of joy. Our last call was good. I don't remember what we talked about while I took the dogs for a walk, but I remember feeling like it was a goodbye that felt kind of floaty. She o...