No less than eight IVs hung, each with a different bag or bottle of some sort of clean solution medicines hoping to slow down or undo the ripple effect now going on. He looked like a medical experiment in a lab; his naked body lay beneath stark lights with people in scrub suits quietly scurrying about. Doctors spoke in hushed tones. He was sedated and appeared unconscious, but I know from my time in nursing that the patient can always hear you. Having already cried, I was aware Don would sense if I spoke with dread in my voice. We knew each other so well and our voices were so often the first indicator for each of us that something was amiss.
I leaned in over the beige handrail of the sterile bed and the starched white sheets and placed my cheek upon his and said, “I’m here honey. You got really sick and they’re trying to figure out why. I know you can hear me and I won’t leave you. I’m here.” He tried to talk to me and he began to buck the ventilator and move one of his arms.
Because his lungs were so taxed from the adult respiratory distress and he had been a long time asthma patient, trying to respond to my presence caused him more stress; his oxygen levels dramatically dropped, or he de-saturated (in medical terminology) and he certainly did not need that. Doctors increased the sedative. I comforted him and tried to calm him with my touch, with light singing, and reassuring him with my voice.
I cannot recall who came into the room next but there was a constant flurry of doctors and nurses. He had to be placed on dialysis because the meds that helped increase his blood pressure also temporarily shut down his kidneys. I could not leave his side; there was so much going on and I needed to know everything. The nurses and doctors were very understanding and efficient but it was all too much—a sensory overload of the heart. I felt like I was in somebody else’s nightmare.
I occasionally would have to step out for this or that procedure, or when they tried to do a CAT scan. At those times I’d leave the ICU and go around the corner to a waiting room that filled up with loved ones coming to support us over the course of the day. Adam and Paul had already arrived, and my family arrived late on August 23—my two sisters (my brother couldn’t be there), my father, and my sweet Aunt Lillian (my mother’s best friend and sister). Don loved her very much and she had been a surrogate grandmother to our girls, often staying with them when we traveled. Each time I saw someone new, I wept at the kindness of their presence.
Our girls were sleeping in on that Saturday morning and I eventually had to call them. I sent a friend over to our home to be with them. I told them what I could over the phone; that Daddy had become very, very sick and that I needed to be with him at the hospital. My sweet Liisi was so afraid and Skye grew quiet. Later that evening a college girlfriend picked them up and brought them to me. I met them in the parking lot. My youngest watched me walk toward her, reading my body language. My older daughter trusted me to tell her the truth. That was as much as they could handle.
Our angels continued to arrive; people were spilling over with outrageous acts of kindness. People showed up with flowers, food, blankets and snacks, or they simply sat and held my hand, prayed, picked up my children . . . things I didn’t ask for that they just did. Just seeing them gave me the strength and fortitude that I needed. Their eyes, hugs, and sad hearts were my shot in the arm and short adrenaline trip back to the boxing ring to fight alongside my daughters’ sweet father.
Never in my life have I experienced such a symphony of love from so many. My sisters slept in chairs in the waiting room that night. I stayed in Don’s room with the pings, the whoosh and low rumble of the air mattress beneath him, the swish-gasp of the respirator, and chirping of IV machines. I had to be with him. I kept saying throughout the night, “I’m here, Donnie,” and I’d rub his feet, or kiss his face and hands.
The doctors repeatedly said they were trying to balance everything; to get the meds just right without giving him too much. The ventilator was set to its maximum capacity to ensure his body had the proper oxygenation. His heart rate was strong and steady and his blood pressure was being shored up by various medications. Myriad other meds—antibiotics, blood thinners, insulin, antiviral meds—all danced together on a delicate tightrope of hope in an effort to balance his body in the fight for his life. Hope was all we had in the chaos of it all.
Aunt Lillian went home that evening to stay with the girls. I could see how sick Don was but I also knew how much he wanted to be here for us and with me; I could feel him fighting. The image of him lying there stayed in my head when I tried to go to sleep, and conjured up the time when my mother became gravely ill.
***
My earliest memory of her was the smell that I’ve come to know as Estee Lauder Youth Dew. It was an oil-based perfume that stayed with her always even when I went to her bed at night with a sick stomach or a scary dream. She would wake us on cold wet Louisiana winter mornings by turning on the lights, then pulling back the end covers and putting socks on our feet. She’d always say that breakfast was the most important meal and we could not leave without having one prepared by her loving hands. I remember being in the fifth grade in the beige-tiled school bathroom with a friend discussing how I couldn’t wait to wear a garter and stockings just like her. (Pantyhose had not happened just yet.)
Mother Ola Mae, my mentor, my muse, was a smart dresser and a savvy shopper. She believed in us girls wearing pretty things to bed so we had lovely nightgowns and jimmies just like she did. She could find a sale rack or an offbeat store and find clothing and shoe gems for her four children (my brother required special shoes that one of my father’s jobs paid for) that made us appear to be a wealthy family. She could sure stretch a dollar.
She stood about five foot six with shoulder length black press and curl hair, smooth semi-sweet chocolate skin, white straight brace free teeth brushed only with baking soda, full lips, and a quick warm smile. She had a small waist, warm heart, a beautiful figure, wore a size ten shoe, and had been born the eldest of fifteen children to Lois and James White. She was brought up on a farm and taught to be humble and obedient but her nature was always of kindness, politeness, and an eagerness to help others. I was told that she would go barefoot during a high school class so that her half-sister Jarutha could use her shoes for gym class. She was kindhearted and giving. She and my dad were a perfect match.
After losing their first two babies to late term miscarriages, my brother Junior was born; a six-month preemie, he survived but later would be diagnosed with cerebral palsy (though mild) because of developmental delays. He never learned to crawl. His legs didn’t work so well, but he was a happy drooling baby often dressed in white. My mother and dad were so happy to have this baby that she kept her floors clean so he could skooch around on them in his white outfits. They took him everywhere. It wasn’t uncommon at this time to keep your disabled child at home or to put him in an institution. Not my brother. He has perfect diction and that was due to the way my parents, especially my mother, mainstreamed him, talked to him, worked with him, and put him in every normal situation possible. I was learning also while she was teaching him. How did she know this was right?
I know what a gift she was because she was thinking ahead and wanted a broader world for us. I believe she followed her keen maternal instincts. Mom was my hero. She and Dad managed to functionally raise four children into productive kind people who are still an intact and loving family today. Where she got the energy, the drive, the perseverance, I’ll never fully understand. I do know that I wish to be that kind of beacon for my two daughters. Though I only had Mother for seventeen years, she packed a lifetime of memories into my heart. She was a wise, amazing, and spiritual being; if I can stand in her shoes at any time in my life, I think that would be wonderful for me. I always knew I was loved and cherished. I too know what a blessing that is. This blessed mother taught me about mothering, being a good citizen, and caring for my family. I hope to be just like her. All that I need to know about being a woman in the world, I learned from her. She was a remarkable woman.
I always knew mother was special
