A Day of Comfort

After a very long illness filled with suffering, my mother's sister, Dorothy passed away last week. She was bed-ridden for much of it and it pained us all to see her that way.  We would visit her once a week and mom would try to massage auntie's legs to provide more circulation and read letters to her from their sister in Japan. When the end seemed imminent I was able to thank auntie for all her kindnesses toward me and my baby brother throughout our childhood and when Art and I returned to Hawaii. I'll always remember her smiling. I can almost remember her laughter. Mom couldn't say goodbye. She couldn't find the words.

When my cousin texted to let me know that auntie had passed away a few days later, mom was relieved for her sister. She knew her sister's suffering was at an end.

But then... there was sadness. She said she'd lost all her friends and her sisters (here in Hawaii). And yes, at almost 93, most of her close friends had passed away. 

She then felt forgotten... and I realized the pandemic had made it seem as though a lot of our family had forgotten her. The fact that she doesn't speak English makes things hard too and we haven't had any family gatherings for 3 years in order to protect her from COVID.

So.... first things first... we decided to take mom to a garden. We gave her choices and that's what she wanted to do.

We took her to Foster Gardens in Honolulu. It has been a long, long time since we'd been there. In fact, the last time was with Auntie Dorothy and with Auntie Grace who passed away seven years ago. Everyone was full of health and energy back then.

We were captivated by this palmetto palm.

There were baby palmettos growing alongside its bigger companions.

It was the leaves that caught our eyes.

They're split half way down the middle forming a little V.  We'd never noticed anything like that before.

Art went back and asked for a leaflet written in Japanese for mom which she really enjoyed looking at.

We love this cannonball tree and always look for it. It's branches make it look like there are vines growing on its trunk. The flowers are beautiful, but we are careful to stay away from any falling cannonball fruit.

There were a lot of trees, shrubs, flowers to look at before we headed for the orchid house. Mom loves to look at orchids.

We had one surprise in the orchid house though. I don't recall ever seeing this pitcher plant before. Flies must fall into the pitcher flower, be digested and have the nutrients go up that stem that is dangling from the midrib of each leaf.

We were walking through Foster Gardens for quite a while so mom was ready for a big lunch. We went to Zippy's where our favorite server, Nora was happy to see us. Goodness! She remembered what we liked to order even after 3 years. Granted we pretty much order the same thing all the time. Mom LOVES their wun tun min noodles (with extra vegetables).

A few days later, I gave mom a haircut.

AND.... we've decided to have a family Thanksgiving this year. I will ask everyone to test themselves before coming. I'll open all the windows and turn on all the ceiling fans.

And cross our fingers. 🤞