I mentioned that my mother passed away this past December.
However, all things weren't quite laid to rest then.
But let's start at the beginning.
I had a brother I never knew except from my mother's mentions of him. His name was Keith.
He was my parents' first child, born in the summer of 1949.
Things were very difficult in many ways back then and especially so for my parents.
When Keith was 7 months old, he died from pneumonia.
My mother carried the pain of that loss for all her years.
She, like many of that era, believed illnesses like pneumonia and colds were caused by getting cold and she frequently said that Keith would perhaps not have gotten sick had she had a proper blanket for him.
It was a statement we heard so often growing up that, one Mother's Day, my sister gifted my mother a baby blanket she crocheted for Keith.
My mother kept and treasured that blanket and, somehow, it found its way back to my sister when my mom went into assisted care and, when my mother passed, into her casket, along with a photo of Keith.
My mom had always said she wished that Keith would be buried with her when she died, but at least some of us were a bit surprised to learn that she also reduced that wish to writing and made it a formal part of her funeral arrangements.
It was bitter cold here in December when my mom died. While the cemetery said they would be able to tent and warm the ground to inter my mother, they were hesitant about using that process to disinter Keith since he was buried in a simple wood box and they were concerned about damaging what remains there would be.
So, rather than interring my mother then and later disinterring her and Keith when the ground thawed, a difficult decision was made to have my mother's body held over at the funeral home until spring.
While spring was slow in its coming this year, it did eventually come....
...and, on Friday, Keith's remains were tucked into the blanket in my mother's casket and the two were finally laid to rest together next to my father.
One final Mother's Day gift, Mom.
Love you most.
The end. I win.
