Mid-day Day 4

Great Grandma and Jaysen
Mom is waiting for someone or something to show up we figure. She made it through the night and is still sleeping and resting comfortably. She is on even more morphine now and her breathing is a little easier, though still labored. The old bird just won’t give up for some reason and if she wants to fight, then we are gonna fight along side her.

In other news, my niece Kristin is giving birth to her third child this day, and her husband Ryan is also hospitalized suffering from kidney stones while she is in labor. My brother Kevin and his family are tending to those family emergencies while the rest of the family gathers here at my brother Mike’s.

There’s the right way, the wrong way and the Padgett way and we are doing things the Padgett way. That last bit is adapted from my father’s old Navy saying that there is the right way, the wrong way and the Navy way. I can feel my father chuckling at all this from his vantage point right now. This would be one of those days my Dad would say “we are having a high old time”.

If anyone needs to get in touch with us you can leave a voicemail at my house at (317) 353-2550. I get my voicemails in email and have my choice of cell phones to call people back from here if you do call. You can also email me at finifinito at gmail dot com. Or you can leave comments here in the threads and I will get those too. Thank you to everyone who has emailed or called, your support and well wishes are deeply appreciated at this time.

 

Late Night Day 3

We had a lot of people at my brother’s house, it seems nearly everybody stopped by at some point today. She has a high temperature that keeps coming and going so they have been applying cold compresses to the forehead. The hospice nurse said she thinks her kidneys are shutting down. I personally don’t know if she will make it through tonight or not.

At this point she is sleeping peacefully most of the time and is well medicated. She does not appear to suffer any pain which was all I asked for. I prayed with her before I left and said my goodbyes with the hope they are not my final ones. I just hope she can make it through until morning time. I will get over there earlier tomorrow.

 

This may be it.

I just got word from my brother, he’s coming to pick me up to go over to his house. He said they think her kidneys are shutting down and to call everyone to the house. This may be her time tonight, please pray for us all.

 

Midday Day 2 Update

Mom is continuing to rest and is still among us. She is highly medicated and mostly sleeping. I will be going over to Mike’s house later this afternoon after taking care of some household matters here at the apartment. I will post something from over at my brother’s once I get a handle on what’s going on when I get there.

Today’s photo is of Mom with Mike and his wife Ann taken at the birthday party last year for my great niece Destynie, my niece Rachel’s daughter. You all have heard me talk about Mike and Ann and I thought it might be good to show you a picture of the three of them together. Mike and Ann have been really good about taking Mom out to do fun things the last couple of years. They always seem to find a cool little musical event somewhere to take Mom, especially to Irish bands and dancing events.

 

Late afternoon Day 1

This 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.

 

Map to my brother’s house.

This is a map to my brother Mike’s house at 49 N. Burbank on the east side of Indianapolis for anyone who needs directions to where we are gathering. The phone number to reach us there is 317.352.8051. The map above links to the full map at Google for driving directions. As of 3:08 EDT she is still resting and is peaceful. Nothing new to report yet.

 

Midday Tuesday update

She made it through the night and is resting peacefully in her bed. I am about to go over to my brother Mike’s to begin the mourning process. I didn’t sleep very well as you can imagine and I am going to be a mess physically but I have to do this. I will post another update later on when I have a better idea of what exactly is going on.

I contacted a blogger friend I know in Israel that I met when I did an article for Taylor Marsh about the Israeli-Lebanese conflict earlier this summer. He and I have maintained contact since that time and I asked him how I might get a prayer to the Western Wall in Jerusalem and he sent me this link to a website that will print your prayer and a rabbinical student in Jerusalem will then deliver your prayer to the wall.

I looked up the traditional Jewish prayer for the sick and prayer for a safe journey and combined them into a prayer for mother. I will post this prayer below the picture.  This I’m sure Mom would appreciate greatly since she was always so respectful of the Jewish faith. It is good to have friends like my friend Rafi in Israel who can help out with the strange ideas one comes up with in hours such as this.

May it be Your will, God, that You lead us toward peace, and make us reach our desired destination in Heaven, in gladness and peace.

May you rescue us from the hand of
every foe, ambush, bandits and
evil animals along the way,
and from all manner of punishments
that assemble to come to earth.

May you send blessing in our every handiwork, and grant us grace, kindness and mercy in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who see us.

May you hear the sound of our supplication
Because You are God who hears prayers.

Almighty, Master of the Universe,
my God and the God of my forefathers:

May it be Your Will that You speedily send
a peaceful journey to Heaven,
a healing of the body and a
healing of the spirit to:

Phyllis Ann Padgett
the daughter of
Olive Ruth Shaw-Bader

amongst all of the sick of
the Children of Israel.

Special thanks to aish.com

 

 

To Bed To Bed Said Little Red

My mother used to have a traditional Hoosier poem modified by our family she would recite on her way to bed every night. “To bed to bed said little Red/What carries you so slow?/Put on the pot said Greedy Gut/Let’s eat before we go!”. Her Dad used to say this to her when she was a little girl. She used be called little Red by her dad for the red hair she and I both shared. Greedy Gut was apparently a nickname for my Uncle Dave. It was one of many little daily things Mom and I shared for nearly 35 years that is now coming to an end.

The brain cancer took her mind away a short while ago, what is currently left is the physical remains and last bit of will left in her that clings to life. She has more heart than anyone who has ever existed from my perspective and so too from so many others. It is this heart that endears her to so many people in so many places. She will be missed but not forgotten, not by a long shot.

We are not sure when she will pass but it is expected within the next few days or hours. The 24 hour nursing care from hospice has been ordered and that is usually reserved for end of life procedures. She recently took a major turn for the worse and while this has been sudden it was not entirely unexpected.

I will post updates here throughout the coming days and will post her obituary when she does expire. Please pray for my family and I in our hour of need. If you do not pray, please send your love and positive energy in our direction or keep us in your thoughts. And hug your mothers today, even if by cellular phone.

 

Hello All – Joh Here

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Hello All – Joh Here, originally uploaded by Fini Finito.

Note here (download it…)

Temp. Secretary

Rich

lettucedzine@earthlink.net

–

In Liberty,

Joh Padgett

Hoosier Roots Project: http://www.staterootsproject.org/in

End of the End blog: http://finifinito.wordpress.com

 

Hello All – Joh Here

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }
.flickr-yourcomment { }
.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }
.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Hello All – Joh Here, originally uploaded by Fini Finito.

Note here (download it…)

Temp. Secretary

Rich

lettucedzine@earthlink.net

–

In Liberty,

Joh Padgett

Hoosier Roots Project: http://www.staterootsproject.org/in

End of the End blog: http://finifinito.wordpress.com