An end

On Wednesday, October 13, 2010 at 12:45 AM, my mother died. She was 63 years old.

I have not yet processed this information fully, and I don't know that I ever will, but there it is. She was a stubborn, warm, irritable, brilliant, lazy, selfless, unbelievable woman, and the world is so much better for having had her in it. I find that, now that she has finally died, I can remember what she was like before she got sick. When she was deteriorating so rapidly, it was hard to think of a time when she was healthy and happy. That was unbearable.

I will probably post more about her in the future, probably at great length. For now, though, I don't have the words.

We will be celebrating her life on November 6th at 2 PM, at Adelphi University's Alumni House. If you would like to join us, please do.


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In lieu of flowers, my father, my sister and I are asking for donations to whichever of the following charities you feel suits you the most:

1. Amnesty International, which was always important to Mom
2. Project Main St., which provides direct aid to NY-area people suffering from ALS, the disease that killed her
3. Sonidos de la Tierra, a Paraguayan organization that works to empower poor children through music. Mom loved Paraguay, music, children, and empowering the powerless; this one seemed most likely to come close to summing up what she did with her life.