Hello All: On January 16, 2018, I opened up this discussion talking about the loss of my dad. Today, I will share with you all about the loss of my mother on Thanksgiving Day. Here are some of my responses to grief and loss thus far. I'm sure that my feelings will change as time goes on.

As I look back on Thanksgiving Day, I find myself thankful for my church family as well as hospice. As some of you already know, my mother passed away on the afternoon of Thanksgiving Day. She was accepted into hospice care just a few days before she died. When she began to experience the symptoms that the hospice nurse had predicted would come at the end of her life, there were comfort meds on hand that I could administer with phone directions from the hospice nursing staff. She took her final breath in her own senior apartment with me by her side rubbing her arm so that she would know I was there.

While it wasn't a typical Thanksgiving, the support of hospice and my church's staff gave me much to be thankful for. I made many calls to the nurses on-call at the hospice organization during her final minutes. After her death friends from church and my two pastors connected with me by phone to tell me of their prayers and support.

While future Thanksgivings will carry the memories of my mom's transition from this life to her heavenly home, I'm very grateful for God's mercies to her and to me. She experienced what I had prayed for, "a peaceful homegoing."