Goodbye Nora

Nora passed away last night just before midnight. It's amazing to me how knowing someone like her so briefly changed my life so dramatically. She unlocked a part of me that I had tucked away for what I thought was forever. She made me realize that it shouldn't be locked away - not that I'm ready to share all of that, but it's what allowed and inspired the paintings.

She loved a good margarita, so at 4 we're closing the showroom and heading out to get one in her honor.

We all love you and will miss you!

Heading Home

So no, Mark and I were specifically told not to dance together. We probably wouldn't have made it out alive - not everyone there is family. Not that family would be too keen on it anyway. However, it was a moot point becasue Mark and I stayed home while my parents went. We were completely exhausted and didn't want to move.

So, today we head home. I want to go by the cemetery here to visit Grandma and since we're out here I'd love to stop and see Granddaddy's grave in Shreveport, but that may take too much time out of the way. I know I'm anxious to get home and I can only imagine how Mark feels.

Everyone's still sleeping, so I don't think we'll make the 9:00 departure time we planned on. I think we all forgot about the stupid time change. I'm sitting here showered, dressed, and drinking coffee. Yeah, I'm ready to hit the road. I need to stop typing now...I sliced one of my fingers with an exacto knife yesterday, right on the tip. It's a little sore and this typing thing is starting to hurt.

Trip to Gorum

So, we're in Gorum to help my parents move Grandma's stuff out of her house. I'm the first one up and I've made my coffee and am sitting here in disbelief at how long dial-up connections take. I guess I just didn't remember. I mean I knew it was slow, but damn! My first pot of coffee was finished brewing before the home page came up.

That's one thing about living so far in the middle of nowhere - you have to be patient. I'm not. At all. I attempted doing a couple of things on Facebook, but it was just ridiculous how long everything took to load. It's a different world out here. (I realize how pathetic this sounds.)

Tonight, Mark will get the privilage of experiencing a local dance. Uncle Charles, Grandma's brother, will be playing the fiddle tonight - and he's amazing to watch. The fun part will be watching Mark take in the gathering of people. Most of them I'm related to somehow. There are 3 main family names out here and I think ours outnumbers the others by quite a bit. Anyway, I haven't seen a lot of these people in years so it'll be fun. The last time Mark came out here with me, but he only got to meet Aunt Carmen, he didn't get the full "Gorum Experience."

I think he's approaching it from an anthropological point of view. He asked if there were banjos and my mom replied, "we don't have banjos, we use fiddles out here." It'll be an experience he'll never forget.

Hopefully we'll be going into Natchitoches today for lunch at Lasyonne's. We need meat pies and gumbo at some point. If not today then we'll have to do it on the way out of town tomorrow. But I have a craving - and Mark's been talking about it for two weeks now, so hopefully we'll go today.

I'll be sure to take pictures tonight!

Nora

I've mentioned Nora before in my blog - pretty recently. She was the inspiration for my paintings. She had her surgery a few weeks ago to remove some cancer cells from just inside her skull. During this time she was off the chemo. While recovering from her surgery the cancer returned with a vengeance.

It has since spread into her spinal column and she has developed a type of non-contagious meningitis that can come with certain cancers. She is in the hospital on really good painkillers, but is also lucid. She has decided that she wants to go home with hospice care and let her family take care of her. Her goal is to build up enough strength to sit at her computer and tell her story.

She has realized that surrendering isn't about giving up, but about letting go. She is preparing herself to pass on to a place where she can take care of her friends and family here. She doesn't see this as and end, just a transformation. She is tired and has put up an incredible fight. She's ready to rest.