Mom's Magnolia

It's blooming .

A Love Letter

Yes, apparently my father wrote at least one. We found this in Mom's things, click on the photo for a larger version. The text is as follows, as close as I can figure it:














Dear Vera,

As promised, a few lines so you are at least certain of the correct address. It was very nice to talk to you last night, though I had quite a bit of trouble going to sleep. You were the cause of it, naturally. I do hope you will be able to make your connections next Saturday. It seems like an eternity until then, especially with so little to do. Probably it is somewhat the same with you, though there is usually plenty to do at the office.

From what you said I gather I missed quite a session with Mr. T and the boys. I really didn't think you would tell them, though I can't say why. Guess I'm still in this well known pink cloud and in no hurry to get back to reality. I'll try to be by Saturday though, and I'll be at the airport rain or shine. So write, wire or phone - Drake 4.9185 - but do come because everyone is anxious to see you - especially me.

Love,

Dan

Happy Anniversary

On Mom and Dad's Anniversary, a favorite of Mom's:

The Host Of The Air

O'DRISCOLL drove with a song
The wild duck and the drake
From the tall and the tufted reeds
Of the drear Hart Lake.

And he saw how the reeds grew dark
At the coming of night-tide,
And dreamed of the long dim hair
Of Bridget his bride.

He heard while he sang and dreamed
A piper piping away,
And never was piping so sad,
And never was piping so gay.

And he saw young men and young girls
Who danced on a level place,
And Bridget his bride among them,
With a sad and a gay face.

The dancers crowded about him
And many a sweet thing said,
And a young man brought him red wine
And a young girl white bread.

But Bridget drew him by the sleeve
Away from the merry bands,
To old men playing at cards
With a twinkling of ancient hands.

The bread and the wine had a doom,
For these were the host of the air;
He sat and played in a dream
Of her long dim hair.

He played with the merry old men
And thought not of evil chance,
Until one bore Bridget his bride
Away from the merry dance.

He bore her away in his atms,
The handsomest young man there,
And his neck and his breast and his arms
Were drowned in her long dim hair.

O'Driscoll scattered the cards
And out of his dream awoke:
Old men and young men and young girls
Were gone like a drifting smoke;

But he heard high up in the air
A piper piping away,
And never was piping so sad,
And never was piping so gay.


--W.B. Yeats

Mom and Ivy

Just got this photo of Mom and her great-grandaughter Ivy. There is another one far, far below on the blog, but always room for another. I got this one off of my sister Mary's brilliant blog , check it out if you get the chance.

http://greenpaper.typepad.com/

Mom's Day

We laid Mom to rest on Friday, December 26th.

Even with the holiday there was a big turnout amongst members of her church, as well as all of her family and our friends who came to either share their memories or hear ours. The age range was babies to 80's.


This little guy was fond of mom's hat.






Although we feared early forecasted rain, it was a beautiful, sunny day.






Thank you to everyone who attended, and everyone that sent well wishes. The word most closely associated with my Mom is "love", and she would have loved this, as she did almost everyone who knew her. This world will miss her.

Service Info. For Mom

The schedule of services:

Friday, December 26th, 2008

Our Lady of The Angels Church
1100 W. Duarte Rd. (at SW corner of Temple City Blvd.)
Arcadia, CA 91007

VIEWING: 9:30 AM
ROSARY: 10:15
MASS: 10:30

DRESS CODE:
WOMEN MUST HAVE HEAD COVERING
No exposed shoulders, dresses must cover knee

MEN:
Suit and tie preferred
ABSOLUTELY no shorts, jeans, t-shirts or sandals
No earrings

Here is a MAP To The Church (click on map to see a larger version)












RECEPTION/WAKE to Follow at Mom's House at 1PM:

2638 S. Tenth Avenue
Arcadia, CA

Here is a MAP to Mom's House (click on Map to see a larger version):














QUESTIONS:

Mom's home: 626-462-1464
Pattie Lynch 323-445-0410
Eileen Lynch 818-219-4910
Kathi Lynch 310-721-6055
Matthew Lynch 323-428-0997

Veronica A. Lynch

Veronica A. Lynch

born: 7/21/1930

died: 12/22/2008



Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children. ~William Makepeace Thackeray

Atlantic City

Now our luck may have died and our love may be cold
But with you forever I'll stay
We're goin out where the sand is turnin to gold
Put on your stockins baby, `cause the nights getting cold
And maybe everything dies, baby, thats a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back

Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

Bruce Springsteen "Atlantic City"

Tangerines and Snow

The weather has been, for California, frightful the last couple of days. The snow level was down to a few thousand feet, which led to some nice views outside of Mom's window, which she still seems to enjoy taking in.

She also noticed the tangerine tree across the street, in the neighbor's yard. They are, like the oranges on the tree in Mom's front yard, not ripe yet. But Mom could smell them through the open window last week and wanted some, which we gave her in a very small amount as that was all she would eat.

Wanted to include a photo with snow in the backround, yes it does happen here, but as I always say, I like to be able to GO to snow, I don't like it to come to me.

I've also included another shot to prove, that yes, FALL also happens here, at least in mom's town of Arcadia, which is older and planted with non-California trees. I liked the juxtaposition of the fall colors with the orange and palm trees. Mom has loved living here.

Feisty

It's the word we use to describe Mom when she is being a little "unpleasant" towards us.

It's quite a joke, but it could certainly describe the way she has faced her final journey. Using words like "hard" or "tough" don't really seem to fit her. But, as we have just learned from our latest visit from our hospice nurse, she is still fighting in a way we can't really grasp. The nurse is shocked at the strength of her pulse and the fact that she is still able to communicate with us. (She can still smile and tell us she loves us, which is a beautiful thing to hear)

Roni is here with us again, and we are all visiting as much as possible, and Pattie and Kathi are staying with her full time.

Please keep her in your prayers.

4th and Wesley

And update as of December 11th.

Mom has stopped eating and taking medication. We weren't sure if this was a temporary thing but she hasn't eaten anything for a number of days now. She can still recognize us and she doesn't appear to be in much pain which is our biggest hope now.

Please include her (and us) in your thoughts and prayers.


Peace,

Matthew

Thanksgiving

We were all very thankful to have Mom share another one with us. She wasn't awake much, but did ask if the Lions finally got a win. (Unlike everyone besides Dennis and I, she remembered that the Detroit Lions play every Thanksgiving)

We had to forego the usual giant production, and just all gathered together and ate fake turkey sandwiches with LOTS of pumpkin and apple pie. That might sound odd, but trust me , it was a fantastic day.

It reminded me of a comment by the singer/songwriter Warren Zevon, who recorded a final album and toured while dying of lung cancer. When asked by talk show host David Letterman what he had learned during the process he said "...how much you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich"

Enjoy every sandwich.

Indeed.

Mom's Fort

Mom has taken to relaxing and napping on her outdoor swing. We set up a sheet to block the bright sun (to our suffering blog readers in winter states, yes, it's still a little hot out here in the afternoons)

It reminded me of the little forts kids like to set up. Mom is back out there after the smoke from all the fires has dissipated.

Eileen has hired a nurse to come help Pattie during the week, the rest of us visit most days and we try to switch off during the weekend to give Pattie a break. Roni was out last week and we all fought over her cookies and treats.

It looks like Mom will make Thanksgiving, which we are all happy about, Christmas and the New Year may be a bridge too far, and although we've been blessed greatly so much as it is, we can't help but be a little greedy.


Love to all,


matthew

Election Day

Early in the year, at the height of the Primaries, something happened that annoyed my mom, whatever it was obviously forgotten as almost all of the histrionics of that time faded. But she scoffed and said she wouldn't be around to find out what happened anyway.

Well, she was (happily) wrong. She did get to vote in the election, by mail.

Anyone that has known her for more than an hour knows how she voted. And she is happy with the result, and like others, happy she lived to see it.

Birthday Girls

We all got together on Sunday to celebrate Kathi, Eileen , and Pattie's Birthdays. Kathi's is in late October and our "Irish Twins" Eileen and Pattie are early November.





We all made it out there, and Mom enjoyed herself, having a piece of each of the different cupcakes.

Breakfast at Mom's

This is a picture from last Saturday.

The weather is still perfect here in October, and we got to enjoy a
nice morning outside. It got too hot later and I was unable to convince Mom to head to the track nearby for the Breeder's Cup races.

In all honesty to everyone, these type of breakfasts will we fewer (and definitely not far between) in the future. Mom has been slowing increasingly, and rarely gets out of bed, sleeping upwards of 20 hours a day. We all knew this was coming and certainly are not surprised. Her medication contributes to this, obviously, but her pain seems to being regulated.

We all feel lucky considering all the circumstances when we first heard this news over a year ago. Please keep our Mom in your thoughts and prayers.


Matthew

October Notes

Hello All,

Roni was out visiting last week. She was filling in for Pattie who accompanied Eileen on a business trip to Hawaii and got some much need R & R. (And got sick as well, as have almost ALL of us EXCEPT Mom!)

Roni and Mom just relaxed, compared knitting , and watched lots of old movies. That's been a standard of ours since Mom can't get out as much. We've been watching mainly older movies, some old favorites (Harvey, Here Comes Mr. Jordan) and some of which Mom hadn't seen (Sunset Blvd., The Philadelphia Story)

But they are mainly a distraction from Mom's biggest interest, the upcoming election. Like most American's she is very interested in the goings on, and follows closely.

Thanks to everyone for continuing to send emails, cards, and notes. Mom (and the rest of us) enjoy them immensely.


Peace,


Matthew

More Hawks

One of the side effects of Mom having so many bird feeders is that the congregations of birds is the sound of the dinner bell ringing for our larger feathered friends. They've been quite active the past week, it's like the animal planet in Mom's backyard.

Slightly less exotic is the neighborhood squirrel , who has taken to laying flat on the cement to cool off in the heat, something none of us have ever seen.

We are taking turns looking after and staying with Mom and enjoying the show.

Hawks and Toes

Mom had a great treat when granddaughter Kyra came over to give her a pedicure. It was especially nice as mom can't get around as well anymore and going out to get one would have been very difficult.


August's visitors included Mary and Jack as well as Uncle Rich, who delighted everyone with childhood stories that Mom wouldn't have (or just hadn't) told us.





We have had a hospital bed delivered, and set up in the living room. The hospice nurses are still coming by regularly , and mom has slowed down quite a bit. We are taking turns staying the night with her - and by taking turns, I mean that we relieve Pattie (our rock) occasionally.

From Mom's bed she can see the tips of the San Gabriel mountains
to the north, but more importantly , still has a good view of the swarms of birds that are attracted to her numerous feeders. There are literally thousands of birds in her back patio daily (or hundreds of birds making constant trips)

This occasionally drops to zero when the neighborhood cat lurks nearby, Or when a winged predator such as a hawk lands. We had just such a sighting a couple of days ago. You can't see it in the photo but, trust me it's there - click on the photo and look in the third (middle)pane on the right , perched right on the chair. Although mother can't stand cats and what they do to birds, she gets a kick out of "her" hawk.

Love to all,

Matt

Mom's Magnolia Tree

FROM Pattie:

Matt,

I don't know if you know the story of the magnolia tree. Mom loves them and when she and dad were first married, they planted one. Then they had to move. Then they planted another one and then they moved again. This went on until Mom finally stopped getting magnolia trees for fear they would move again. When she moved to her house after Dad died, we thought to get her one, but figured she'd think she would have to move...the final move. So we didn't.

When she was diagnosed I thought about it but didn't do it fast enough. I went to Armstrong's and they had a tree (a stick really) that had a few blooms. Next to that was a stick which looked to have some buds that I thought would bloom.

So I brought it home to Mom and planted it. Turns out they were just the leaves. Since I had waited too long, we figured it wouldn't bloom again until the winter. December or January. So guess what I found Thursday on the stick (Mom's term, not mine)? That's right...it appears to be blooming.

Mom is very excited about it. Anyway, I thought you could put these pictures up. The last one is the new double finch sock thing that we got. Mom is loving that too. The birds are all going crazy as usual.