Before & After
Four years ago today, in a sunny hospital room around noon, I became a widow. As I was busy setting up my laptop in my"space" in my husband's room, chattering away at him about dropping the kids off for their first days of school (4th grade and pre-K), their outfits and hopes and fears about their days, how the morning had gone, and dinner plans - my husband died. With me prattling on about my day, he took his last breaths on this earth. At that moment, my life became two parts: the Before and the After. Before, I was going to sit by my husband's side all day, talking to him as I always did - sure he could still hear me, though medication and active dying had rendered him unconscious, bristling at the uncertainty of how much time he had left; hoping to catch up with my favorite nurses; getting a report from the doctor; and looking forward to hearing about the kids' days after I picked them up. After, nothing. I sat, laptop long forgotten, doc...