PEACEFUL SLEEP

The last time I saw my mother, she was asleep.


It was a well deserved nap, having fought with oxygen tubes and breathing treatments most of the day. She was exhausted and I knew she was ready. She looked peaceful, almost childlike, laying on her side with her hands tucked under her chin.


It was time for me to catch my flight to visit my son, but I didn’t want to wake her. I thought about whether she would be upset to find I had gone when she awakened, but then realized she probably wouldn’t remember that I had been there to begin with.


I walked over to her and kissed her lightly on the top of her head.


I sat down on the chair next to the bed, the chair I had sat so many days before, and where my sibings no doubt had sat before me. I was the last out of town daughter to visit, and it was almost as if she was waiting for me to say goodbye.


I cried a little, knowing this was the last time I would see her.


“Good bye, Mommy” I whispered. “I’ll miss you.”


Rest in peace.


Finally.