Friday, March 29, 2024

Days remind us to stay in touch with loved ones

Spring semester is over. The weather has finally changed for the better, and it is time to reflect on the past year and ponder things that have happened. One thought that has lingered on my mind a little longer than others involves two celebrations: Mother’s Day on Sunday, and Father’s Day, on June 17.

I think back to a time two months ago. It is 4 a.m. Saturday, March 10. It is Michigan and the weather is cold. The bed is warm and anyone sleeping would have no desire to leave that environment. But at that exact moment, a loud, incoherent series of screams broke the silence of the moment and drove all thoughts of sleep away.

Coming out of a deep sleep, I remembered I was at my parents’ home, where I had gone for the final days of spring break.

I bolted upstairs to find my mother still screaming, but I realized the sound was more gibberish, half words and cries. She seemed to know who I was and stopped screaming. At that point, she recognized me. She could call me by name, but her attention and mental state was not normal.

I began to ask simple questions, “Can you say the alphabet?” Her response started well, “a, b, c, d

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