My New Normal, When NOTHING Is Normal

My normal completely changed the night of July 29, 2023. That was the night I found out my Mom, my first best friend, was gone.

We had just flown home from Maine. We landed in DFW and as usual, I called Mom when we got to baggage claim. It was 9:09pm. She didn’t answer on the first ring which was her normal when I had been flying. I had an uneasy feeling, but thought maybe she was in the bathroom and hadn’t taken the phone…again, not her normal when I had been flying. I waiting a couple of minutes before trying again. Still she didn’t answer. At this point, I knew something was wrong but I tried her cell. Straight to voicemail. I reached out to my people for urgent prayer because this wasn’t normal.

Panic set in and I called Kelly, my cousin. She was on her way home from Norman, and would go straight to Moms. By this point, I knew in my heart that this was a bad situation. My Mom was either critically ill or she was gone.

My heart already knew what my mind was fighting against!

Kel got to the house and knew something was wrong. It was only after 10pm and the house was dark like it would’ve been at Mom’s typical 11:30 bedtime. Kelly found Mom in her bed. She called me to tell me it was bad and that she was calling 911. I didn’t know at that point for certain, but my heart knew, she was gone.

The ambulance arrived with a sheriff and my cousin, Paul, Kelly’s brother got there, too. It was just a few minutes, but time seemed to stand still while I awaited confirmation of what my heart already knew.

“Lori, she’s gone.” Those were the words that I knew were coming, but did not want to hear. My Mom, my first best friend, my confidant, was truly gone. The wave of crushing pain and disbelief washed over me. Time truly stopped. It was like I was in slow motion. Was I dreaming?

Kelly called the funeral home and she and Paul stayed until they came for Mom. Kelly told me the funeral home would be calling me. Ok. I wouldn’t be sleeping anyway. I was doing laundry at midnight when the funeral home called to let me know they had Mom and ask when we would like to come in. Like to come in? No one likes to come in in this case!

My new normal…when NOTHING is normal.

lp