6 months today, but mom died
Hello All,
Tonight I celebrate six months of sobriety. Yesterday morning at 12:03am I stood over my mother as she took her last breath. This is that story. On January 1 I said I'm not drinking anymore. I lost my license to a DWI and had my doctor tell me about my elevated liver functions and all the things we hear frequently. After taking the bus for 6 months I finally got my license back on May 1st. I've been feeling wonderful about not drinking and have been strong through some tempting times. Flash forward to last Wednesday night June 23, I get a call at work that my 82 year old mother is unresponsive in the hospital. I rush to her beds side and she doesn't look good. I find her on life support.
My 3 brothers are called including my brother Ron who is a lifelong heavy alcoholic. We all are there. I did not drink. On Thursday morning the 24th the doctors tell us my mother has suffered a major stroke and has sustained "catastrophic" brain damage. She will never be normal and will probably be on machines the rest of her life. My family knows this isn't what she would've wanted and at 7:30 last Thursday we removed her from life support. I did not drink.
My 82 year old mother then hangs on for 6 days. My family sat in that room on and off for six days as my mother lay dying. My brother Ron had a conversion van and would drink and sleep in the parking lot of the hospital. By mid week his van floor was covered in empties. I, however, did not drink. So Tuesday night I went to the hospital about 9:30PM. All my brothers were there and all our wives. We talked for a few hours and at midnight almost on the dot my mother took her last breath. I watched each of my brothers kiss my moms forehead with a tear in their eye. I heard my brother Ron say through his beer breath that he loved her. I did not drink.
This has been the hardest experience of my life. I miss her so much. I am extremely grateful that when I got the call I was sober. I am grateful that when she died I was sober.
-Norman