Mom

Tuesday, February 18 is the third anniversary of the passing of the matriarch of the Mackey family, Eleanor or "Dolly" as everyone called her.

Mom had been in and out of the hospital since the end of 1999 in the end stages of her battle with Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (or Osler-Weber-Rendu syndrome), a disorder in which the body's system of veins and arteries develop shunts that bypass the capillaries. Characteristic symptoms include severe nosebleeds and other bleeding, which Mom certainly suffered from most of her life. On February 17, 2000, I decided to spend the night with Mom, by now comatose, off life support and being given medication to make the end as comfortable as possible. Bob, John and I had all had our nights to keep an eye on her. Around 1:00 a.m. the next morning, I went downstairs to get a bite of food. When I got back, Mom's labored breathing had ceased, and we brought the doctors in to confirm that she was gone.

I urge you all to learn more about HHT, or ORW, by visiting the website of the HHT Foundation.