It has been a stressful year since my dad died suddenly at the tender age of 44. He was driving in from out of town business when a jackknifed tractor trailer spun out of control, striking his car and killing him instantly. That part over time lessened in the sadness my mom and I felt over his loss, but my mom suffered much more because she was on the phone with him as it occurred and her nightmares persist to this day.
She went into therapy to recount that day and some of her issues were tamed but her overall health both mental and physical continued to be at risk.
My mom is a beautiful person in every way. In her earlier years in college she was a head cheerleader as well as the homecoming queen. Her beauty was on display as she was first runner up in the Ms Ohio pageant. Growing up all my friends envied me not only for the exceptional looks of my mom but she was also a sweet and giving person. She related with kids and adults alike and everyone either loved her or liked her immensely.
I was off at college, my final year when dad passed. I wanted to dropout to help mom but she would have none of it. In fact we had the service and burial over a weekend so I would not miss school. Even then I noticed her coping skills, if she had any, they were not working. Those two days she was in a fog with mostly family and friends making all the arrangements. The most she could do was sob or bob her head up and down while my grandparents were making funeral arrangements.
When the fog lifted, or as soon as she was talking again and back working, her enthusiasm for life was gone. Life was by the numbers, just going thru the motions. I tried as often as I could to come home, but with the pressure to graduate on time, it became less and less often.
But finally I did and it was the first time in a long while, when Mom finally smiled, however briefly. She had come down for the graduation with my grandparents, and while they were ecstatic, Mom could not get through her deep grief to show real joy. It was sad and I tried to comfort her, but with my friends all around high fiving and wanting to party, I did not have a lot of time alone with her. I also did not have the heart to tell her about the job offer I received that would place me over 1,000 miles from her and home. I just knew that would only dampen the fleeting joy she felt at that moment.
Based on that, I knew I needed to speak with my mom without distractions, so I redid our plans leaving college. Originally, with mom driving down with grams and grandpa, they would take my stuff in the SUV and I would follow in my car, which was a compact. But I asked them to take my stuff and I would stay another night in the hotel with mom, so we could talk and then spend some time together as we drove home in my car. Everyone agreed to the plan and I could see a hint of a smile on mom as she helped pack my stuff.
I had told everyone of my plan after they had checked out of the motel which I did not feel was a major problem as we would just check back in. After getting the grandparents off, fully loaded with my dorm room possessions, mom and I headed out for a quick meal before driving over to the motel. Mom was inquisitive to say the least, asking why all the secrecy and such and being quite funny about it. My job offer was being saved for the actual drive home, so I bantered with her and was just happy that she acted a little spry with me.
We had several glasses of wine with dinner and we relaxed but had also lost track of time as it was almost 9PM. The motel parking lot was full and I had to drive all the way in the back to find a spot. It was looking like a lot of my classmates had my idea, spend the night in this hotel and get an early morning start. Still I had no concerns as we entered the lobby and inquired about a room.
Right away the manager looked at my mom with recognition and said she should not have checked out this morning as they were full. Since the next place to stay was 70 miles away, almost a third of the way home, I was crushed. With the move out of the dorm, the graduation, I was not looking forward to driving several hours this night. Mom took it all in stride and asked again if there was anything the manager could do.
He looked again at his computer and said they did have one room left but had taken it off the available list as the bathtub faucet leaked and the air conditioner was making a funny noise. They would have a repair man in the morning and wanted to leave it off the rentable space. I asked, kind of in desperation if we could see the room and if those items did not bother us, could we have it. He was not too comfortable with that, but said if we could stand it, we could rent it.
The room itself was in good shape. Since the nights had been cool over the last several days, the need for the air conditioner to be in prime shape was not a huge factor. And as for the drip, well you had to be in the bathroom to even hear it, so a towel in the basin or closing the door would solve that. I immediately said after leaving the room we would take it. The manager told us to follow him and he would register us in. As we were walking, mom was tugging on my sleeve in an effort to get my attention. Finally I had enough and asked her what it was.
"Honey, she said with concern in her voice, did you notice that there was only one bed?"
Honestly, I had missed it. I just wanted to crash and in my efforts to ok the obvious imperfections in the room; I did not pay attention to the other things in there.
"That's fine, I assured mom, I can sleep on the floor or chair."
"But it is a wooden chair."
"It will be fine, now let's get signed in and back to the room, I'm beat."
After getting the keys, I went to the car to get mom's suitcase and some of my gear. While out there I thought how horrible could it be, most hotels beds were either queen or king. Mom is 5'6 or so, I'm 6 foot; we could fit easy for one night.
Entering the room with my arms and hands full, Mom was standing by the bed, a full bed, no queen or king. Even if we were to lie on our sides on the edges, for sure our butts would be smacking together. I could also see the look on Mom's face as she glanced at the bed and then at me. I was going to put her at ease no matter what.
"Mom the bed is yours; I'll have no trouble crashing in here somewhere."
"No honey, you take the bed, I have a lot of problems sleeping anyway. It's been a long and tiring day for you."
"Absolutely not, you're in the bed. I got extra pillows and stuff from my dorm that will get me comfy. End of story."
After mom got some stuff from her bag and went in to take a shower, I surveyed the room closely. Besides a small round table that wobbled a bit, we had two wooden chairs and a low profile dresser which held the TV. The only option was the floor. We had two spare pillows and the bed roll which I knew mom would not use. An extra blanket in the sliding closet and that was it. I've roughed it before; this would be piece of cake. I laid my bed stuff out and waited for mom to finish so I could take a quick rinse.
When mom came out and saw my so called bed, she got upset and told me no way was I going to sleep on the floor. I passed her by, hands on her hips, as I rushed into the bath for a leak and rinse.
When I came out mom had taken my so called bed apart and told me there was room in the bed. Reluctantly I laid on the edge of the bed, scrunched up and tried my best to get comfortable. I felt the bed sag as my mother now laid down, only to scoff at me and the position I was in. She grabbed my shoulder and pushed me on my back at which point I stretched my legs and arms straight. Mom lay on her side with her back to me so we had some space between us.
I was dressed in a t shirt and sleeping shorts, mom had on a full length night shirt which covered everything. With my body now able to relax and not be bundled up, I quickly fell into a light sleep, a kind of pre sleep if you will. I was resting but I was still noticing sounds and smell in the room, but really was too relaxed to be bothered.
My ear caught a type of whimpering sound, very faint, but still in the quiet of the room, it was amplified. Turning my head toward mom I discovered her body with a slight tremble to it and realized that the sound I was hearing were tiny sobs coming from her. Concerned she was upset, I gently touched her shoulder as softly as I could and asked her what was wrong. I did not get a response, so I again very gently, shook her by the shoulder.
Mom stopped sobbing and turned her head slightly, enough that she saw my worried face.
"What is it Jimmy?"
"Mom, you were crying and I got worried when you didn't respond. What's bothering you that you can't get any rest?"
"It's nothing dear. Just go back to sleep."
"It's not nothing mom. Why don't you talk to me, maybe I can help in some way."