After my mom passed I started looking through all of the photos I have taken of her to be displayed at her service. I came across these and was reminded of what a good sport she was. I decided to remaster them and edit them with my current skill level.
Whatever antics I was up to, she was always game to assist. She had no idea what a Klingon Bat'Leth was, but she hammed it up for the photos regardless.
This post was quite popular and went viral on reddit and other popular image sharing sites. She was so happy to make so many smile.
I get my desire to make other people happy from her. It’s my favorite trait that was passed down to me. It is what makes me want to make people laugh. I can’t thank her enough for that.
I am going to miss her playful spirit, but I am glad I was able to capture it so well in these photos.
Between 2 and 3 AM Thursday morning, my mother’s heart stopped and they were unable to restart it. I am saddened to inform everyone that she has passed away.
My dad and I are incredibly sad and we have been missing her deeply since she first went into the hospital. We’re not sure what life is going to be like without her. She was the foundation that held our little family unit together. We’ve both cried many tears in these past few weeks.
All that said, we both agreed that we are somewhat relieved that my mother is at peace now. Even before she was infected with COVID, her body had been deteriorating. She suffered from severe psoriatic arthritis and spent pretty much every second in pain. She was losing weight fast and she was tired all of the time. When she was at her most fatigued she would get confused and fall asleep sitting up in her chair—sometimes falling out of it and hurting herself. We could not figure out what was wrong and were very concerned we were losing her. We didn’t actually send her to the hospital for COVID. Her infection was a shock. She had the vaccine and the booster, but I’m afraid her medications and illnesses weakened her immune system a great deal. Her body was just too sick to fight this.
I saw her last Wednesday as I went to pick up some of her belongings. As I viewed her through the window, I got this strange feeling that she wasn’t there anymore. I don’t know how to explain it. And each day as I called for an update, they would tell me about how they tried to wake her up. Her eyes would open, but she was not aware of anything in her room. She didn’t respond to voices or touch.
She had already left us in a way… and I don’t think she would want her body to continue living in that state.
So, we are relieved that she no longer has to feel that constant pain. We are relieved that she doesn’t have to continue living unconscious and unaware on life support—as that isn’t much of a life at all.
For the past few years, she fought so hard to stay in our lives even as her body continued to fail her. I thank her for fighting as long as she did and giving us as much time with her as possible. I know that wasn’t easy for her.
She was a great mom. She was the kindest and most supportive person I ever knew. Her guidance and wisdom were the most treasured things in my life. I feel so incredibly lucky that I got to be her son. Words cannot express how much I am going to miss her.
I don’t know what happens after we die. I’m afraid I am not really the religious type. But I will admit there is a part of me hoping that Otis and my mom are reunited and playing with his fox.
I try to keep this blog reserved for happy things that will make people smile, but I know a lot of you care about me and want to know what is happening in my life. So I’ve decided to share this here.
It happened on February 3rd. So we’ve had some time to process. But it has been really hard. It just doesn’t feel real yet. Both my dad and I keep expecting Mom to just… be here. It doesn’t make any sense that she isn’t here. She’s been here for the past 40 years. How does she just stop being here?
We have a lot of things to figure out. My dad and I have a pretty good routine. I am taking care of him as he battles kidney failure. I even got my driver’s license after over a decade so I can take him to his dialysis. Being able to drive again has been oddly freeing even if I don’t really go anywhere.
I just can’t believe how much loss I’ve experienced in such a short period of time. Otis was hard. This seems… impossible.
But I am thankful I have such a giant community of loving people that have been sending their love and support.
A big thank you to my best friends Katrina and Delling. I don’t think I could have maintained my sanity without them.
And I’d like to thank my friend Chris, who is my partner in crime and comic collaborator. He is a wonderful artist and he surprised me with this yesterday. It made me cry, but it is beautiful and I love it so much.
I’m sorry I haven’t posted here in a long while. Unfortunately my family was unable to escape COVID. My father and I had minimal symptoms and the vaccine probably saved his life. But my mother had a breakthrough infection and is currently in the hospital on a ventilator. Her vitals are stable, but she is struggling to improve. If she needs the ventilator for much longer, her recovery could be very difficult.
I don’t know if I will post much here for the time being. But I am keeping my personal blog updated as much as I can. Please go to @sirfrogsworth for additional updates.
Thank you all so much for always helping out. All the cool and nice things I have are because of your support and generosity over the years and no amount of thank yous suffice. But I thank and love all of you so much.
And I love all of you who just read and like my stuff too. That means more to me than anything. This community I’ve built keeps me sane and you can’t put a price on that.
When we arrived, the parking spot closest to the wheelchair crosswalk looked like this.
Me, a disabled person, had to walk these carts to the receptacle so we could park properly.
But the fun didn’t stop there!
Let’s take a look at the wheelchair crosswalk.
This is the ONLY place you can access the dialysis establishment with a wheelchair. This person decided to leave their car parked there for 15 minutes while they got their Chinese food.
I had to slowly back my dad’s wheelchair down the curb in order to get him back to the car. I would prefer to not employ less-than-safe wheelchair maneuvers with my disabled elderly father.
So I ask anyone who doesn’t fear a little confrontation, if you see people doing these kinds of things, please say something.
And if you know someone who does these kinds of things, maybe send them this post and show them the unseen consequences of their actions.
