McDougal Memoirs: The End of 2014

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

The day after Christmas was very emotional. That morning, the doctor's told my aunt that she had an ulcer that appeared to be on the verge of rupturing. We had planned to meet at the hospital as a family that evening to have our family Christmas, but my aunt requested that we all come that morning in case something happened that day. We each took turns as a family exchanging gifts with her. We gave her a photobook with all of the photos that we had of her with our little family. She gave me an authentic, antique kimono that she had had for years and wanted to pass on to me. She also gave me a beautiful butter yellow pashmina. The last present that I opened from her was a beautiful mercury glass bowl that she had on her coffee for as long as I could remember. She knows that I love that mercury glass and that this particular bowl was one of my favorite things of hers. I cried when I saw what was in the box. For me, it signified that she would no longer have use for this beautiful bowl, which meant that the end was near. It was a reality check, in a way. She had wanted to create a piece of art for each of the girls, but had been unable to so she took each one aside and apologized to them that their Christmas presents weren't ready. It was heartbreaking. Throughout the rest of the weekend, we all stayed at Haley's house awaiting news on her condition. Her ulcer ruptured that Sunday, and she ended up having surgery as a last ditch effort to prolong her life. It worked, against what the doctor's had predicted, and she ended up stabilizing. It was an extremely emotional time, but we were thankful that she made it through so that we would have more time with her.

The kids really liked looking out the hospital window as we waited in the waiting room.