Welcome 2021!

Hoping for a better year for everyone. I have rarely ventured out since March 3rd, 2020, the last time I visited my Mom at her Florida nursing home. Sadly, she died of Covid-19 the day after Thanksgiving, at the age of 92. Fortunately she went fairly quickly, kept comfortable by hospice at a local hospital. Family and friends were able to have a virtual vigil in her final hours, set up by the wonderful nursing staff. It was hard not to be there in person, which was not allowed, and we were very appreciative of the technology that makes it possible to be there when you can't be there. We also had hours of family support in her final days via group Messenger video visits, and a virtual Jazz funeral to celebrate our New Orleans roots.

This is a poem I wrote shortly after her passing, along with a photo of my Mom in her younger years.

(Click images to see larger.)

During the long months before her passing, when visiting was not allowed, I purchased a Celtic harp and learned to play some melodies for my Mom during our video visits. I'd spend an hour most days playing for her, and doing some favorite sing-alongs. She had vascular dementia, but up to the end she still remembered me, and as is typical of people with dementia, songs and music.

Here's a wee bit of me playing Cold Frosty Morn (sound with still image):



I will cherish those memories, along with all the happy times in childhood - the wonderful birthday parties she planned for my sisters and me, her love of family and family history, her sense of humor. And the "I know a song about that" family tradition she started to quell a squabble between young siblings many years ago. It is now enjoyed by three generations of her descendants!

I got my artistic abilities from my Dad's side (lol, plus lots of study and practice), but my Mom did take one of my favorite photos of me, totally unposed, when I was about a year old:

I will post again soon with some of the art I have been creating, and updates on my perennial plans to publish a book of my art and poetry.

 

(UPDATE - May 2021: I published this poem along with some other COVID poems in a book. Read the blog post | Buy the book at Blurb

Note: All original photos, images, and text on this page are my own, copyrighted by me. If you want to add them to a social website such as Pinterest, please only do so if you credit the photographer (Randi Kuhne) and link to this page. If you want to use my photos in your blog, you must ask permission first.