Families are Forever

So this post is not going to be easy to write, but I need to let my feelings out. This post will be sad and long, you have been WARNED.
On my birthday this year, I got a call from my dad telling me I needed to come home. My mom was quite sick in the hospital. So, I booked a flight and got to the hospital the next morning. Right after I got there, I told my mom I love her and how much she means to me. Then they whisk her away to surgery. At this point, I had prepared myself that I would never see her again, that she would die on the operating table. But, being the fighter she is, she made it through and did wonderful. The next day she was back to being her feisty self and was telling the nurses jokes and most importantly giving all of us, her feared and well-known trademark, "the hairy eyeball". This is a look she would give us kids when we were in trouble. So, we knew because of these signs she was doing better. Also, the nurses all informed us that she was a miracle. During the week I was there, we got to have a few very deep conversations, she told me how much she loved me and I told her how much I loved her. It really helped us grow together.
Then after another week or so in the hospital, she was transferred to a nursing home to get rehab from her surgery. I talked to her a few times and she seemed happy, just really tired all the time, which is understandable from all the trauma her body had just been through. So then last Friday, the 13th, (I guess they are bad luck) my dad informs me that she is back in the hospital. Just some nausea and a little dehydrated. I called up to the hospital they tell me she is fine now they have given her something for the nausea and she is resting and they were just going to admit her overnight for observation. This makes me feel OK.
So, the next morning, I call up to the hospital and ask for her nurse because I am unsure of which floor she has gone to during the night. They inform me that she is in room 374, which I know from her last stay at the hospital in the ICU. This immediately gets me worrying. So I call her friend Liz, who is also a nurse like my mom to see what is going on. She tells me that mom has pneumonia. Of course I instantly start to cry and get upset. Then, later that night I talk with my sister who had been with mom at the hospital and she says mom is doing good. Just that they have her on antibiotics for the pneumonia and that it may take a few weeks to finish the treatment. I call and check regularly with my mom's nurse and my sister and things seem to be going fine and dandy.
Then, I get a bunch of phone calls on Tuesday morning, very early, from both my dad and mom's friend Liz. Basically, they tell me that during the night, mom's lungs have started filling with fluid very quickly and that the antibiotics have stopped working. It was at this point that my dad tells me that they have taken her off the antibiotics and are just going to keep her comfortable until she passes away. I get very upset, obviously. I call Liz and ask her if I can talk to mom. She says yes, but that mom isn't able to talk at this point. So, they hold the phone up to my mom's ear, I tell her I love her, to be strong and have faith that Heavenly Father will take care of us. Then Liz gets on the line and tells me that mom is mouthing "I Love You Sarah". At that point, I just lose it. I start crying my eyes out and I realize, that my mom will not be on this Earth much longer. I call a few close friends to tell them of what is going on. One of them goes to see her and reassures me that she is at peace and doesn't seem to be suffering.
After all this, my dad gets to the hospital from Denver at about 9pm. I talk to him and my sister at midnight. They are both with my mom. I told my sister to call me the minute anything happens. Then, at 4:49 AM I get a call and it's my sister and she is sobbing. She tells me mom has just passed away, that her heart just stopped.
As soon as I get off the phone with her I immediately start trying to book a flight home. The Lord was definitely watching out for us, it was truly a Tender Mercy, that we were able to find a cheap flight into Greenville today. I feel at peace knowing that my mom isn't suffering anymore, but that doesn't make the pain of missing her any less. I have been through alot in my life, but I swear nothing can compare to this pain. It feels like there is now a hole in my heart where somebody ripped it out, stomped on it and then tried to put it back in. It is just so painful, yet I am comforted by the fact that I know that I will see her again and that we will be together forever as a family. As part of this life, like it says in the Bible, we must experience the bad so we know what is good, and we must experience dark so we know what is light. Well this is a bad dark time in my life, but soon there will be light. I have faith that the Lord knew what he was doing and that he has a greater purpose for my mom right now. I love you Mom, thanks for everything that you did for me, for all the fun times, all the laughs, all the support, all the love and most of all for being a great example of Christ-like service and love. I will miss you for the rest of my life, but I can't wait until that day when we can be together again. I LOVE YOU!!