This morning I was awoken betimes by the ringing of the telephone.

Of course such calls are rarely good.

It was Don’s bro. Mom is very near the end, a mere matter of hours/days. She’s at home, the hospice nurses are visiting.

Don briefly spoke to her, but she was pretty out of it.

Although we had some inkling of what to expect from various friends who have been through this, it is quite frighteningly horrible how rapidly the decline can occur. When we last spoke (around two weeks ago) she was very up-beat and the irradiation to her head appeared to be assisting.

Now we’re standing by the phone for that other, final, telephone call.

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