There’s one thing about Mom’s smile and pleasant embrace that seems like home. All of our concerns dissolve and their sweet voice supplies our minds with peace of mind. However, for those who have lost their mamas, thought and feelings of their pleasant memories together often arrives with agony.
One person who is learning to come to grips with this sort of pain is Erica Allen Peden. She just recently lost her mommy and is battling to cope with her absence …
In a passionate post on the Love What Matters social media page, Erica described what took place the day she lost her mommy.
” It was April 23rd, 2017 and I was lying in bed with my husband of close to 5 months, laughing about something one of our cats did. I rolled over to get ready for the day when Nick, my husband, said, ‘Where are you going?’ At just after 10 am on a Sunday, I was planning to go see my mom, who lived about 7 minutes away with my dad and brother. She had just gone through an abdominal surgery and was resting. I told him, ‘I’m going to see mom. She wants to hang out with me like every day.’
This is the moment I am most ashamed of in my life. If it sounds bratty and immature, that’s because it is. I didn’t mean it. This was actually very unusual of me to say. I loved being with my mom. I work and live in the same city as my family because of them.
‘ She wants to hang out with me like every day.’ That’s the last sentence I said before I got the phone call that not only changed my life but broke my heart. My phone started ringing and I pick up my little brother’s call only to hear him panicking and crying. ‘Mom’s had a seizure or something, I don’t know what to do.'”.
Rather than sticking on the cell phone to ensure her mom was okay, Erica yelled at her sibling to hang up and contact 9-1-1. Certainly there was no time to spare.
The whole entire time Erica’s mommy was learning how to execute CRP on her hubby, she was really coaching him how to assist her.
” In about an hour, my mom had passed away and my family went into deep shock. This Oct. 23rd marks 1.5 years without talking to my mom, touching her, laughing with her, dancing to the Bee Gees together, or going to see a movie- our favorite thing to do. At 26, I am the second-oldest of 4. I had to look all three of my siblings in the eyes at different times and tell them our mom was gone while my dad and nana were with her to end care. My brother was the one to go home and clean up the carpet where she passed away because, as it happens, bodily functions take over. He was 19 at the time.”.
Erica accepted the reigns and really helped guide her family members throughout their darkest time. She at the same time made use of her despair as the power to develop herself as a woman. She joined new neighborhood groups, forged unexpected relationships and appreciated others with even more of her heart.
” Since her passing, I joined a church. I share weekly meals with my nana. I planned my youngest sister’s graduation party and held a baby shower for my oldest sister. I spoke at my grandfather’s funeral, at the same place, nearly a year to the day after my mom’s, his daughter’s, funeral. I still baby my brother and he still rolls his eyes at me with a ‘Whaaat,’ since I’m probably asking for something. I call my dad at noon and 4 pm, my mom’s old lunch break and the time she left work.
It has been the longest 1.5 years of my life. I have had one dream about her. In that dream, she hugged me, and I could smell her lotion. This was about a year ago. In the dream, I finally had the chance to tell her, ‘I loved hanging out with you. I love you.’.
It doesn’t matter what age you are when a parent passes. It could be a peaceful passing or something incredibly shocking. When it does happen, no matter what, you will randomly stop and think, ‘I can’t believe this happened to us.’ It sucks. It’s devastating.
The best way it can be summed up is by something the ‘This Is Us’ creator, Dan Fogleman, said. Dan also lost his mother. He said, ‘My mom died 10 years ago, unexpectedly. It’s the hinge upon which my life swings.’ If there ever was a way to describe this feeling of total loss, this it is for me.
Call your moms and dads. Call your siblings. Take your grandparents to lunch. Plan a party. Work a little too much. Talk to God often. Cry when you want to and, most of all, think about how soft your mother’s hand was when she would pat you on the leg and say, ‘Love you, baby.'”.
We should all take Erica’s words to heart. Reach out to the people you love more often. Show these people you treasure them. You do not know what moment may be the very last you two make!
