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My Mom’s Sudden Death Has Devastated Me

Category: Death and Afterlife

Question: Dear Luise: I lost my mom Oct 17th, 2006. She was not sick or anything. She just went to sleep and woke up in heaven. I am devastated. My mom and I were very close. We had just relocated to SC from MD and had been here for a week when this happened. I wonder was the move too much for her? I was in Chicago at the time for work and she did not show in the morning to help my husband with my 9 yr old for school. She was 68. I feel lost and alone. I have moved 3 states from all my friends. I am having such a very difficult time dealing with this. My dad died when I was 22 to cancer and the pain I had then was different since I had a warning. I feel she was ripped away from me though. I have 1 brother but he and I are very distant. In fact the funeral was the first time I had seen him in almost 2 yrs. I am still dealing with cleaning out her apartment and all. We were here a week and she had the whole apartment entirely unboxed and she was ready to start working again she said. I do not know how to deal with this now…it does not make sense to me. I did not get to say goodbye or tell her I love her one last time. How do I deal? Debbie

Answer: Dear Debbie: My heart goes out to you. My son died that way when he was fifty-two years old. He had a great day, went to bed that night and never woke up. Not ill. He wasn’t even seeing a doctor. I can only tell you what I learned from my own experience and hope that there is something in it for you.

Very, very soon after his death I gave up trying to make any sense of it. It didn’t do any good to ask why I hadn’t been taken. I was much older and ready. Whatever the reasons are, we aren’t going to understand them on this side.

I, too, wished I could have known he was leaving and yet I also realized that what was so terribly hard for me, his wife, his sons and his granddaughter, was very easy for him. Since you lost your Dad to a horrible disease, you know that when we get a chance to get used to a person’s imminent death, they usually have to go through Hell. I didn’t want that for my son and I know you didn’t want it for your Mom.

I have no idea what your belief system is…mine allows for communication. I did that by writing to Dwight, fairly regularly at first. I poured out my heart to him and then I wrote answers back to me from him…from his heart, which I knew well.

Your Mom hasn’t been gone a month yet. Let yourself feel it all. Feel the grief and the guilt and the seemingly unending loneliness. It will lift. I promise you. Blessings, Luise

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5 Comments »

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Comment by bobby chavez

January 22, 2007 @ 11:39 pm

For those we love. We should know that some day it will come to us. A self of tears a wall full of memories a head full of laughter. As tears flood our faces we hurt, but we do not make the hurtful decisions. God makes these unknowing times for us to learn and share, but the one you loose knows you love and care.

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Comment by Ann

January 8, 2008 @ 9:42 am

I too lost my mother recently, on December 20, from sudden cardiac death. I was there with her. She just got dizzy, sat back in her chair and began breathing very hard. I leaned her back in her chair to make it easier for her to breathe and told her to keep breathing and come on back. She had recently changed her seizure medication and I thought at first that she was about to have a seizure. I realized quickly that her breaths were too far apart. I called 911, and her breathing stopped altogether. They told me to get her on the floor and walked me through doing CPR. I did the best I could, and the ambulance was there very quickly, then they rushed her to the hospital and did everything they could, but she never came back. I keep re-living this over and over again, thinking I should’ve known something or done something differently. She was my best friend and I miss her so. I understand what you’re going through. How do you get through the guilt and grief?

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Comment by Luise

January 9, 2008 @ 9:01 am

Dear Ann; The answer is probably time and sharing with others. There probably is no perfect-parting. Who is ever going to be able to say she did everything right and has no regrets? Your Mom wasn’t alone, and you weren’t estranged…two things to be eternally grateful for. I still miss my Mom and she has undoubtedly been gone longer than you have been alive. Acceptance comes and peace with it. Blessings, Luise

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Comment by M.

August 19, 2008 @ 12:32 pm

For Everyone,
Less than 2 weeks ago, I lost my mother to Sudden Cardiac Arrest.
There were no signals or warning signs.
She was ripped from our lives as I stood there with my wife, helpless against it’s power.
Unlike some of the people that email you,I feel no guilt because I was a great son and I took care of her eventhough she did not need it.
There wasn’t a day that went by that I either went upstairs to see her or I just waved hello.
We were very close.
Yes, I have heard all the stories of how lucky she was that there was no suffering but I am having a great amount of difficulty dealing with the fact that I will never see her again in this life.
I want to believe that there is an afterlife and when it’s my time, I will be reunited with her and other passed family members.
The pain is sometimes so hard to bare but I know in my heart that she would not want this for us.
This is what has given me strength by doing the little things that she would nag me about but I wouldn’t do.
I guess the old saying of “Better late than never” applies here.
I know it is so hard to do but all of you need to start to live your life the way your passed parents would want you to.
This to me is the ultimate tribute you can pay them and it will help you out of this terrible time in your life. M.

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Comment by Luise

August 19, 2008 @ 12:54 pm

Dear M. That’s the way my oldest son went at age 52. No warning. It is terribly hard to accept and adjust to.
What wonderful advice, to keep on keepin’ on as they would have wished. I’m happy that there is no guilt attached to your “Better late than never” tasks. What a lovely relationship to cherish and remember. Blessings, Luise

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