Tragedy 05/21/2011
 I took a shuttle from the Bellingham airport to Seattle and boarded a Southwest 737, bound for St. Louis. The 3.5 hour trip was pleasant and I alternated between sleeping and reading. Unfortunately, the Budget rental car place took forever. Once I finally got behind the wheel of the little Chevy Aveo, I realized that I wasn't going to make it to my parents' house by 7:00 p.m. as originally planned. After talking on the phone with my wife, who was on a computer guiding me to alternate routes to avoid some fairly extensive roadwork (thank you, Sweet Pea!), I called my parents' to let them know that I was running late and not to worry...when my father told me that my mother had passed away a few hours earlier. The air left my lungs as if I had been punched hard in the chest. I had to pull over. She had passed away sitting in a chair while I had been flying somewhere over the American prairies. She was 79 years old, had been married to my father for 63 years and was the most decent, sweetest human being I've ever known...and my siblings and myself were blessed to have her as a mother. I will not use this blog to discuss the immeasurable sense of loss this event has left me with. I will only comment on what effect it has had on the making of BNAGO. Needless to say, the passing of my mother changed the entire tone of the trip. However, I WAS able to accomplish the BNAGO related tasks that I had set out to achieve on this trip; namely the acquisition of music rights and background plates. I will discuss these items in the next few posts. The last time I spoke with my mother, she said something that brought me to tears. While I never doubted the love or approval of my parents, they weren't ones to often speak of such things. I sometimes thought that they thought their youngest son was a little strange, interested in weird things that they really couldn't relate to. They loved me...but didn't "get" me. But, the last time I spoke with my mother, she very plainly said, "I am proud of you." It didn't really matter if she "got" me or not. She was PROUD of me. It is to the memory of Donna Esther Sichling (Maiden) West that I dedicate this film. Commentssue mattson Tue, 24 May 2011 06:22:03 That's rough, losing a parent has got to be horrible. I'm so sorry. Lincoln Bellow Fri, 27 May 2011 05:00:35 I'm so sorry Leave a Reply |
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