The Beginning of the End

On Thursday, July 26th, 2018 I flew to Vegas to meet my sister Mindy for a few days of fun.  She lives in LA with her husband, Glen and three dogs.  We were to  go to LA on Saturday so I could see her new house and meet her new puppies.

On Friday, July 27th, we went to see Menopause the Musical.  When we came out of the theater and turned our phones back on, I had seventy million calls and texts from my younger son, Tyler (28 years old at the time), wanting me to call him.  He said that my older son, Jeremy (34 years old), was in the hospital and they were trying to stabilize him.

When I called him he said, "Oh Mom, Jeremy shot himself in the head!"

Now I know why people fall to their knees when they receive horrible news.  Your bones disappear and down you go.  

He said Jeremy arrived in the ER with barely a pulse and that he and Jeremy's girlfriend were getting ready to go in and talk to the doctor and see Jeremy's brain scan.  He said he would call me when he was finished speaking with the doctor.

In the meantime, my sister and I rushed to the airport where a very kind Delta Employee searched and searched to find me the fastest way hone.  It turned out the fastest way home wasn't very damn fast.  I sat on planes and in airports all alone for 12 hours before I got home to my children.

Before I left Vegas I called my sister, Marcie, in Chicago and asked her to drive down to Indy and be with both of my boys until I could get there.

While in the air I was able to communicate with Marcie and Tyler via email, but it was the most difficult 12 hours of my life.

When I finally landed back in Indianapolis, I didn't even waste time getting my car out of long term parking, I took an Uber to the hospital.  In route Marcie called and said she wanted to prepare me before I got there.  "He is so bruised around his eyes they are almost black and his eyes are so swollen.  His head is swollen almost double.  He's comfortable on medication and has a breathing tube."

It was heartbreaking to see him like that, but the heartbreaks just kept coming.

When I met with the Neurosurgeon he said, "I hate to say this, I wish I could give you different news, but we consider this a fatal injury."

Another Neurosurgeon referred to it as a Non-Survivable event.

Jeremy passed away, August 12th, 2018 at 2:30 PM, very peacefully.

What happened during those last two weeks or so was so sad.

Jeremy was in the hospital for seven days, going into hospice the Friday after the incident.  He was in hospice 9 days.

And that, my friends, was when all that love I had for Jeremy had no where left to go, but down my cheeks.