"Why? Why didn't SOMEONE tell ME?"

After several hours at the hospital, my family and I returned back home. Mom had prepared a large pot of hamburger soup on the stove. Through the tears, we giggled for a moment as Mom, of course wouldn't just run off and die of a sudden heart attack without making sure we all had dinner first.

There on the counter were the sweet potatoes, waiting for Thanksgiving. The turkey was in the freezer and the cranberry sauce sat in cans near the sink. Her purse and her favorite RED sweater lay on the chair in the kitchen. She never went anywhere without her purse. I cried that night like I had never cried in my life, until my GUT hurt and I was gasping for air.

My father, although suffering from Alzheimers, awoke early and was looking through his metal file holders for the life insurance policy. I sat in her chair and waited to see her come thru the door. I waited and waited for two days. I didn't change my clothes. I didn't take a bath. I braided my hair so I wouldn't have to comb it. She never did come back. She never came back home.

After two days, there was a knock at the screen door. It was my Mom's best friend from two houses down the street, Alice was her name. She screamed at me through the screen door, "Is it true Patsy?? Is it true? Tell me it's not TRUE? Why didn't SOMEONE tell me???", as she shouted through her tears. "WHY??", she repeatedly asked.

Speechless in tears I stared at her. Still in shock myself, I thought,...... "Why didn't SOMEONE tell ME?"