My Mom is a tough old bird

With so much death around us my mom's will to live is amazing and heartening. I only hope to grow into an old lady that has so much love around her and a choice about it. No one has a choice about dying, only living gives us the illusion of power until that moment when we can say, "It's time." She gave us everything, all life and love and laughter, except when she was going away and living and loving and laughing with everyone else but us, her lonely kids, waiting at home. Still she lays there smiling and crying, lost and a little scared, the world she is in heaven compared to the stark metal and tile of a small city hospital where all her eight kids were born. I'm listening to Karen Carpenter singing "Ticket to Ride" and as usual, timing is everything. The three of her eight kids that are left and all her family are ready for whatever she decides to do.