Upon leaving Kenya, I flew to Costa Rica and stayed there for three weeks. Then, I flew back with my cats to the US for a visit. I had come to visit my mom and to attend my daughters’ respective graduations from undergrad at Valparaiso University in northern Indiana and from the College of Makeup Art and Design in Toronto, Ontario (ON). I did go to graduation at Valpo on the 10th, and I plan to go to Sophia’s rescheduled graduation ceremony when it is combined with another class in October. But then, my dad had a massive hemorrhagic stroke overnight from May 13th to 14th and never regained consciousness. My plans to drive up to where I will practice on the 15th got pushed aside.
He went from the Hickory Memory Unit at Hoosier Village to St. Vincent’s on 86th Street and stayed overnight there until he could go to hospice at Compassus on Payne Road the next afternoon. He passed away three days later, on the 18th, and we had the funeral on Wednesday, the 21st. Then, I drove up to ON in a U-Haul on the 22nd-23rd. I needed to physically reside here in order to get the Canadian criminal background check required to get my license to practice medicine here from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of ON (CPSO). I had planned to start work here on May 20th, but I have a flexible employer! The process with the CPSO has also taken longer than anticipated. Hopefully, I can start work in the next one to two weeks!
But I helped Mom plan for Dad’s cremation and for the funeral, and I gave the eulogy. I also helped get her house ready for guests coming that very afternoon after the funeral—Mandeep and her mom from India as well as Bianca coming to present her Valpo research project at a geography conference in downtown Indy! So, she and I stayed in a hotel near the convention center while Mandeep and her mom stayed with my mom. Bianca left Indy on Friday after I had already started the drive up, and Mandeep and her mom flew back to Boston on Friday as well.
Dad had significant dementia and Parkinson’s disease. His quality of life had been poor for several years already. His care became too much for Mom, and she eventually, later than she really should have, moved him to memory care. She visited him daily, and his spirits stayed up with generic Lexapro. Then, he died after three months there.
He and my mom had a 58-year marriage! I am so glad to have been able to support Mom and to attend the funeral! God’s timing of everything turned out to be such a blessing! Now, I am also grateful to live in beautiful Brockville, ON. I can look out my window and see the St. Lawrence River. Furthermore, I got my health coverage card, or at least the number that I can use immediately, as soon as I produced the necessarydocuments at the Service ON office: government-issued ID (my passport) and my proof ofresidence (a copy of the rental agreement). The physical card will come in the mail soon.
If you would like to read my Dad’s obituary or see the memorial video, read more.
