Years ago, when I was still living in Oakland, CA at Warwick Manor, I kind of assumed that at some point my mother would end up living with me. I even talked with an architect friend about what modifications I could make to the house so that she would have a nice private suite with her own bath.
Well, as it often the case, that’s not how things worked out.
Early on the morning of Thursday, November 6, 2008, I got a phone call from my mother. My father, Harry Lamberty, had died during the night. I drove the half mile over to my parents house.
I found myself sitting at the dining room table with my mother and my brother, Bill. He and I were co-executors. My mother was telling us about receiving the call from the hospital. How when she had left on Wednesday night, she didn’t expect that she would never see him again. That if she had only known….
Listening to my mother, I had but one thought: I can’t let her be alone.
Without further thought, I said, “I’m going to move in with you.”
At first there was silence. Then, Bill looked up, with tears in his eyes, and I knew, this was the right thing. Of course, the rest of the family would have to weigh in, and there would be a lot of things that needed to happen first, but, in my mind the decision had been made; had really been made all those years ago back in Oakland.
And now, it was time to start Living With Mom.