Mom’s Ashes
Today I went and picked up Mom’s ashes.
Noon. USC Medical School. Overcast day. Downtown Los Angeles was in a cloud.
USC campus was quietly buzzing. I took a few photos to show Dad in case he wanted to see. I poked around and looked at where she’d been. Mom’s been there for nearly 2 years ‘teaching’. It was her last gift to the world. So noble.
I got a little weepy. I drove her home.
As I go to sleep tonight, I put her with me in my room. I thought about how I held on to her elegant, square, pounded dark copper urn. Just like a baby. That’s what she used to say at the very end when I was doing things for her that she could no longer do. “I’m just like a baby again.” Just like a baby.
G’nite, Mom.