Under Sad Circumstances

All of my siblings were together, again, for the first time in close to 3 years. Unfortunately, it was under sad circumstances. About 3 months ago, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. I emailed my brother, Matt, and let him know of the situation, and he asked me to keep him updated on how she was doing. After my mom tried several alternative approaches to healing cancer, she ended up in the hospital in the middle of November. Brian, Maliya and I all went to visit her, there, in the hospital on 17th. It was obvious at that time, that she was not doing well. A day or two later I emailed Matt (who lives in Germany) and let him know that I thought she could possibly die within a week and most likely within a month. As soon as Matt came across the email (it was evening in Germany) he hopped on the internet and searched for a flight to Salt Lake City. He found one that was leaving the following morning and purchased the ticket (contrary to "juicy family gossip," he wanted to come see his mother. No one had to talk him into it, and no one paid for his ticket. I am aware of how much family loves their gossip, but if you actually asked the person involved, you would usually find your rumor is completely made up). After flying all day long, Matt arived in UT on Thursday night and spent the night at Kira's place in Salt Lake area. Friday morning, Megan, Matt, Kira, Bryn and I (along with Addy and Maliya) all went to visit my mom. It was a good reunion and went very well. Saturday, my mom left the hospital to have hospice care from her home, and Sunday afternoon, she passed away. During the following week, I was reunited with several relatives on my mom's side who I had not seen in many years (and one aunt whom I had never before met!) and it was wonderful to see them and hear their stories of my mother. On Saturday, we had the funeral, and on Sunday (a week after my mother's passing) Matt flew home to Germany. It sure was great to spend time with my family, despite the sad circumstances.

This is a picture I took of my brother and my husband playing Wii...I thought it was funny how similar the back of their heads looked!