[Magdalen] Another Bereavement

[Esther Williamson]

Prayers for you, Christopher, as well as for your mother and brother and 
all who mourn her passing.. My mom had enough dementia before she died 
that I was no longer telephoning her. I was, however, welcomed to the 
beautiful funeral at her church. My sister gave the Eulogy which brought 
me to tears.

Esther

On 3/15/2016 10:33 PM, Christopher Hart wrote:
> Dear Friends in the Pub,
>
> I want to let you all know that my father, Oliver James Hart (Jr.), passed
> away early this morning. He was a week shy of his 93rd birthday, but had
> not been in good health for some time. His legs were weak and his hearing
> was very poor, but you can manage those issues. More recently, however, he
> had developed dementia. He and his second wife (a.k.a. stepmother although
> I hold no affection for the woman) lived in Sarasota, Florida and had moved
> to a retirement home a few years ago which fortunately had built in nursing
> facilities when the time came for Dad to move into those. My brother has
> been in greater contact than I due largely to the fact that he travels to
> Florida from time to time and has been able to visit. Also, being an
> attorney, he is more acquainted with the various things that need to be
> done in the current situation. He is going down there tomorrow. I offered
> to go down also, which he would have welcomed, but stepmother doesn't want
> me to come so it appears that I will stay in Pennsylvania. A memorial
> service will, I'm told, take place in the summer in Maine where the family
> summer home is located and I trust that I will not be shut out from that.
>
> ​As I've said a few times today already, I feel as though I have not really
> had my father in my life for a while because his poor hearing made phone
> calls virtually ​impossible and after the dementia set in it was useless
> anyway, but there is still an awful finality when the long expected moment
> arrives.
>
> ​I did manage to get to a mass this evening​ which felt like the right
> thing. Your prayers are, of course, welcome.