A Time to Bid Farewell

My parents are leaving tomorrow to go to Canada for a visit. My mother's only brother has been battling some form of cancer for the last couple of months. It's been hard to get details. Between the Socialized medicine and his unwillingness to pass along bad news, the picture changes with each conversation.

A couple of weeks ago, Mom heard from her nephew (himself in his late 50's or early 60's) that he had gone to visit Uncle Stevie. When he asked my Uncle how he was doing, he replied, "Not bad, considering the doctors only gave me 6 - 8 months to live a couple of months ago."

This installment of news was shocking and was the first really clear report we'd gotten. Apparently, he's in much worse shape that he had led us to believe. Couple that with the fact that his wife has terminal cancer and, in addition, is fighting radiation sickness from her attempts at battling the cancer, and things are in a rough spot up there.

My mother called her only surviving sister to discuss the situation. Her sister explained that she had her own hands full - the doctors think she has cancer, as well, but she was on the waiting list for some diagnostic tests to determine whether or not she does. She said until she could get the tests done, which can take months in Canada, she wouldn't know for sure.

Mama is facing the reality that she may outlive her last two remaining siblings. It's unbelieveable to think of losing your entire family, but she already has lost all but these two. They were 7 children and now even the spouses are deceased. She has two remaining brother-in-laws, one who is estranged and the other who we never get to see. Then, her sister-in-law, younger sister, and baby brother. There WERE 14 of them. That number has now dwindled to 7, including both my parents, and 3 of those 7 are fighting cancer.

So Mama goes home to see her only brother for the last time. Home becomes less homey with every visit. Life has been stripped away. There comes a time when it's best to not return to places from our past, to visit them only in our memories. I feel that way when I go to Canada and walk down the street past my Grandmother's house. It held so much life for our family. Now, it belongs to someone else and I'm just a pedestrian on the street, a stranger to these people. The house has forgotten me and the life and love I felt there only exist inside me.

A sorrowful day today.