Shortly before Christmas my sister called to tell me, one of the counselors Mom had seen in therapy was walking down the hall of the nursing home. Suzan asked her if she was going in to see Mom. She said, no, it wasn't her normal appointment day. Suzan told her that Hospice had been called in and Mom was dying. So the counselor, turned around and came back.
Suzan roused Mom "Tammy is here to see you Mom."
Mom looked at Tammy with an odd look on her face, and said, "Oh, I feel butterfly..."
Thinking she meant her tummy was bothering her, Tammy asked, "Do you feel butterflies in your stomach?"
Mom replied, "No… I feel like... I AM a butterfly."
From that point on Mom said nothing further, nothing pronounceable. She could only respond with a mild attempt to vocalize with one syllable... “um”.
A day later my sister said, "The oddest thing happened today! Even though we have this cold weather, as I was entering the house, a little orange butterfly flew around me. Then a little yellow one, too, and they both fluttered away.
A few days later, Mom fluttered away, too.
~~~~~~
Note: Photo was taken the following July.
