My parents got divorced when I was around 12 years old.
My mom lost her sight in middle-age.
During her depression, she attempted suicide.
Because of the events surrounding this event, my mom was not allowed to move back to her home, which my brother had tricked her out of owning. My sister moved her to a community apartment complex near her home.
Mom had very few possessions in her apartment. Her life was a routine of sleeping on the sofa and “watching” television or listening to audio books.
When we went to her apartment the morning of her funeral, we were looking for a few mementos of her life. It was heartbreaking to see that there wasn’t much there. All of the old framed photos had been taken from there frames and were tossed into an old suitcase under her bed. There was nothing of sentimental value that we could find. It was nothing short of sad and heartbreaking.
Given that, I decided to make my mom an altar in our home, of which there are many. I got a nice frame for her favorite photo, a sconce, statue and candle. It’s hung by the west-facing window that has lots of glass balls, baubles and other pretty light catchers. I think she’d be please.
One memento is a blue topaz ring with two diamonds that I had bought for her back in 2013. Mom had a house keeper that was hired through an agency for the elderly. This cleaner stole some of my mom’s jewelry, including a blue topaz ring that her dad had bought her when she was young. I replaced the stolen with this ring, below. It was missing and not with her jewelry. My sister found it in the silverware drawer between two trays of utensils. I’m glad to have it back, and I can see that there’s wear on it, so I know she wore it.
