It is hard to believe that it has been a full year since we lost my mom.

1 year ago, I sat by my mom’s bedside with my sister and brother in law watching mom take her last breath.

Her last wish for her life was that she would not die alone. God put the pieces together perfectly for her wish to come true.

The story you may not know is that we had not seen my mom in over 2 months due to Covid 19 lockdowns.

On May 4, I got the call to be with her. Michelle was available to come right away, and Daniel (my brother in law) was able to come a little later that night.

When we got to the facility, mom was already in a coma. We tried multiple times to wake her up, but she never opened her eyes.

Around 10pm on May 4, we were going to leave and return the next morning. While packing up her valuables, we realized that her wedding ring and IPad were missing from her room. If those things had not been stolen, we would have left. She would have died alone.

It took over 2 hours to get everything filed and then she took a turn for the worse. We stayed, and then we got a knock on the door. It was her very first Hospice worker, who was moved to a different job. She should not have been there. She was called last minute to check on a case, she did not realize that it was mom.

When I saw her, I started to cry and asked her so many times why she was there. Mom died 1 minute later at 12:05am on May 5.

God put the pieces together for all of us to be together when my mom left this world. It was exactly what she asked for!

We never understand why God chooses to put things in our lives. He knows what is best for us. He has a plan that we will never fully understand.

It has been a year of healing for all of us. Emotional, physical, and personal healing. I feel that I am finding myself again.

If you are struggling with being a caregiver, just know that you are not alone. It is the hardest job I ever had. It left scars that will never go away, but it also taught me how strong I am in the face of difficulties. You can get through it, you will be strong on the other side, and you will be able to help others through your journey.