Last night, John got a call from his mother letting him know that his uncle Robert (his dad’s younger brother) had passed away. Robert had diabetes (or if you’re the quaker oats guy, it’s Diabeetus) and wasn’t doing so well at all for the past few years. He’d been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia, but died before antibiotics helped. John left with morning at 7am with his dad to go to Mississippi until next week. It upset John a lot too. Robert was an eternally cheerful person, and really did make the world brighter.
The week of death is really hitting me hard. I haven’t been sleeping well at all, and I’ve got this unending headache that no about of Aleve will get rid of. Sabina’s memorial service is tomorrow afternoon, and I’m sure her death will really hit me hard sometime before or afterwards. I haven’t had a fully dry-eyed day this whole week.
I find myself thinking about what it must be like for her parents. I met her in February and she was bright and vibrant. It never even occurred to me that she’d never get better, or be dead within three months. How much harder is it for them to face her empty room and know that at some point they’ll have to do something with her things? How terrible is it to know that all your friends are mothers you know because of your daughter?
I’m giving her a sideshow of all the photos I took of Sabina, a few 5×7’s I still had, and a packet of seeds to plant. I feel like it’s not enough to give though.