Mom passed away last night at around 6:40 pm. She was peaceful when she went, and surrounded by her family. Yesterday morning she had trouble waking up, and it was clear she was having trouble breathing. We called the ambulance and they took her to cedars where repeated attempts to get her breathing on her own failed, and by late afternoon she was hooked up to a ventilator. Mom had been very clear with us since the beginning of all of this, she DID NOT want to be on machines of any kind, and thankfully, that made our decision an easy and swift one. (i mean, as easy and swift as that can be....yikes)
They gave her a little morphine, took her off the machine, and within 15 minutes she was gone.
I think we all thought she had some more time left in her, and hoped that maybe she would wait for Colorado, but, apparently it was just time.
Obviously, we are so sad, and miss her, and shocked (which, in light of the past few months seems hard to believe that i could be shocked by this, but, I am.) And I think I am maybe even a little relieved- that she is out of pain now, and out of the miserable state her life had become towards the end. But we had such a good day on Monday, i just never thought when I woke up yesterday morning, that this was how the day would play out.
We have spent today with family and friends staying close, holding on tight. Being a Team.
So.
Apologies, but I need to tell you all some details of plans and schedules and all of that- so take a second, focus and lets get to it:
Firstly, we have decided that we are going to go to Colorado this weekend, as planned. We wont take the RV, and we wont take mom, but her ashes will meet us there.
Secondly, we will be having a memorial service next weekend in Basalt. We are still working out exact details, but it seems that it will be SATURDAY OCT 13TH. Somewhere in the Roaring Fork Valley.
Thirdly, we will have a second service in Los Angeles in a few weeks. Right now I am thinking NOV 3rd. But will need a little time to confirm that as well.
You are all welcome to come to Colorado, of course. It is an extremely treasured time of year there. It is however, difficult and can be quite expensive to get to, so please don't be upset if you cannot make it, we would love to see you in LA.
I am in the process of setting up a fund for mom at the Wyly Art Center in Basalt (www.wylyarts.org). Wyly is a wonderful community art center that brings art instruction to the mid valley. It was a place that mom really loved, and while we could give money to a cancer foundation or something like that, at Wyly every little bit will really make such a huge difference. So please, in Lieu of sending flowers or food, or whatever else, please save your money and send it to Wyly. It will take me a few days to get that organized so please please give me some time and I will let you know where and how.
And I think thats it. I will write more soon. Again I so apologize if this is the way you have found out this news. Email is so not the way I wanted to get to you all, but with plans to be made, and especially those of you traveling to Colorado, I just needed to.
My mom was a magical woman, and she blessed us all. And I, for one, will miss her each and every day, for the rest of my life.
Thank you all so much for staying with us on the incredible journey. You have been our rock.
Whether we see you in Colorado, or in LA, we will see you soon, and we will always always remain,
Team Carter.
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