Edith Elaine Hayling (nee Ambridge)

1916-2008

I got home from work on Saturday morning just in time to receive a phone call from my Dad in England. After a long illness in the grips of Alzheimer's Disease, my Mom passed away at the old age residence during the night. She was 92. It appears that she simply stopped breathing.

Even in her healthier days she used to do that a lot. She'd wake up in the middle of the night trying to catch a breath and scare my Father half to death, until he would somehow coax her into breathing again. It might have been a form of sleep apnea.

My Dad has visited her faithfully at the home every day without fail for the last 8 years (except when the buses were on strike - and even then he once walked all the way there - a distance that took more than 2 hours each way to traverse on foot). This daily pilgrimage was at the heart of my visits to England to see my Dad. We would catch the bus together rain or shine and spend a few hours at the home with Mom.

To the best of my knowledge, Mom was not a believer, but since salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9) I can't truly know what went on between her and Him in the closed universe that had become her mind. The last time I was there I had a few moments alone with her in the room and I asked her, "Mom, do you love Jesus?" Contrary to her customary lack of response - as soon as she heard the Name above all names, her eyes lit up, and she let out a girlish giggle. I don't know what that all means. I know that I'm grasping at straws but I wasn't left utterly bereft of hope for her.

All this to advise my readers that I may (don't know for sure yet) be off to England for a week or so. The blog will continue to self-publish but filler articles and comments will go the way of all flesh for a while.

I'll drop a note here to confirm the situation if arrangements can be made for me to make the trip.