According to the blog, there was no entry in 2024. Yep. It seems that writing was reinforcing the bad feelings inside of me in 2023 rather than being a catharsis.  So I stopped. At this point I don't recall the later part of 2023 but does anyone?  Honestly, I don't recall much of the two years spent with Mom now but there is certainly some history here of that era.  I'd like to capture a few things on paper(digits in space) to bring this up to date.

2024: It opened with Mom's continued spiral down the Dementia Hole.  Her ongoing issue with heart failure was coming to a head.  I recall in the first three weeks of January she gained 19 pounds due to fluid retention! And she was hardly eating! Sometime that month she asked me if she could sleep in the recliner in the living room. Gone was the demanding, aggressive Mom. She was replaced with a child asking permission.  The last four to six weeks of her life would be spent in that recliner most of the time. 

Mom.  I miss her.  Not the facsimile of herself she became but Mom pre-Dementia in which she could intelligently articulate conversations on religion and politics without ever pulling any punches. Mom had no filter. Never did.  But she also had a great sense of humor. She loved potty humor.  One day in 2023(?) I told her I had to go to the store and get a new butt as my old one was cracked.  Her face lit up and with a glee in her eye she added, "it's also got a hole in it!"  She passed in February of 2024 after spending her final week at home under hospice care. One of the hardest things I've ever done but so glad I did.  And so glad we never placed her in a facility as it was a giant fear of hers.  By the grace of God I got through that experience with Mom.  There is much more I could say about our time together but that will have to be some other time, if ever.  

RIP Mom.  I love you.