A Passing

My mother, Mary Ellen Shortt at the turntable during WBLE DJ days in Leesburg, FL.

My mother, Mary Ellen Graham Shortt, made her transition from this plane of existence to the next world on New Year's Eve at 4:50 pm. She went peacefully, after a very long struggle with very complicated health problems which I have discussed in previous blogs. None of what I feared and railed about came to pass, and the experience proved to me that God is truly in control of EVERYTHING. The problem was I was too self-centered at the time to see it. Considering what an selfish brat I have been, the Almighty, the Most Powerful in His Grace and Bounty, saw fit that I would spend most of what turned out to be my mother's last day at her bedside, holding her hand. I told her that I loved her, over and over again. And I told her that I was sorry that I haven't been a better daughter. And I meant every word of it. They say your life unfolds before you when you are in the process of dying. Well, my life with my mother unfolded before my eyes as she lay dying. I saw scenes of our interactions, and for the first time, I saw the damage inflicted in our relationship by my selfishness and my obsession with food, daydreaming and the opposite sex. I'm so grateful that I was able to make my amends to her while she was still here. I have no doubt that I would have been able to do the same after she passed into the Abha' Kingdom, but I believe that God made possible for me to be with her physically while I did my amends. I will be forever grateful for that.

I will post more later, more than likely after her memorial service, which will be held on Thursday, January 8 at 1 pm. I won't be able to have much time online until then, but for those people who live in Sacramento and would like to attend her memorial service, it will be held at Thompson Funeral Home, 3601 5th Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95817. For more information, you can call (916) 455-3038, and anyone at Thompson's can give you directions to the chapel. I promise you--this will be VERY atypical funeral service. Nothing else will suffice to celebrate the extraordinary life of the commander and leader of the Shortt family, Mary Ellen Shortt.