May 2025 – Greg & Amelia's Airstream Adventures

Big Laguna Lake

My mom recently passed away. She was my North Star. I feel lost and unmoored without her. We always had a very close relationship. There’s no doubt I’m her son, the two of us are similar in so many ways, just ask Amy or any of my friends.

The hardest thing I’ve ever done was to tell my mom in person that her son, Eric, had died in a paragliding accident. It shattered her world. After that, especially in her later years she often said to me, “Don’t pass before I do.”

Her first 90 years she was charging hard and very active. Then it got to a point where it wasn’t safe for her to drive anymore. Losing her independence was the beginning of the end. After a year of living on her own without a car it became apparent that an assisted living place was the next step. It saddens me that she wasn’t very happy her last couple years. She would not embrace the assisted living place. She became depressed and had anxiety issues. She constantly said, “Don’t ever get old if you can help it.”

Another thing she often said was, “If you fall and break your hip, that’s it.” She fell multiple times but only bruised herself. Then on April 14th, early in the morning she fell and shattered her hip. It was very painful, so that same day she had hip replacement surgery. She would only be with us for another three and a half weeks.

Amy and I were with her when she died. Each of us on one side of the bed, holding her hands.

I’d like to give a sincere heartfelt thanks to everyone who visited my mom while she was at her assisted living place and to all the wonderful folks that came by to see her while she was on hospice care. Thank you very much.

To begin absorbing life without my mom, we took a trip to our beautiful local mountains. Biking, flowers, relaxing, and reflecting on her life.