balloon.jpgThis picture was taken Friday, August 4th, 2006 at the Rushville Amphitheater in Rushville, IN where Mom, my brother Mike and his wife Ann enjoyed the music of Gaelic Storm. These guys you will remember from the movie Titanic. Gaelic Storm performed the music from the scene in the movie in which the third class passengers got together for their big Irish dance number. Here is a video clip from their site for their song Beggarman.

You can’t see her in this camera phone picture, but that is Mom taking her first and only hot air balloon ride ever. It was one of her lifelong dreams to go on a hot air balloon ride before she left this Earth and she finally got to do it that day, spur of the moment.

I got to visit with her for a short time, maybe 15 minutes or so. She was very tired and weakened from being rolled around her bed by the nurse that gave her a bath. She tried talking to me but it was too much for her and she soon fell asleep from the medicine.

She was aware I was there, though, and seemed responsive to my voice. She even squeezed my hand back when i squeezed her fingers a little to let her know I was there. She knows whats going on around her I am certain. This process has no schedule or agenda set so we will let her determine how rapidly she chooses her ascent. Just like in the hot air balloon that day, Mom is rising to the occasion and is ready for this having prepared her whole life for it.

I’m heading for the apartment soon and will return tomorrow or whenever we get The Call that she is heading for the end and we should all gather.  I will post more later on this evening, for now I need to go home and rest myself.  It is a very hard time emotionally right now and is very draining physically.