It was not long ago that I felt compassion for those who lost their loved ones forever; Iwas sad and I cried with them...but I couldn't comprehend the pain they were going through...
My mother has been very sick for several years, she lost her eye sight,the cancer overwhelmed her entire body, however, she was so strong in mind and body that she never complained about the pain. In December of 1999 she went to Poland for half a year. She stayed there with my older brother. After a while she called and asked me to come to Poland and to take her back to the U.S..I went to Poland at the end of May2000...At first I was shocked what I saw she looked horrible it wasn't the same person I took off to the JFK airport half year ago. In June 22, 2000 she came to me to Pennsylvania. In July 22,2000 my middle brother from NY State came to visit us. Mother sat with us in the living room and everything seemed to be okay, but just before 11 p.m., my mother got tired and she wished to go upstairs to her bed. My brother assisted her. We could hear them talking but all of the sudden nothing but a silence set in upstairs. When I went in rush to see what happened the sight terrified me. Mother was sitting on the stairs and my brother was holding her in order that she may not fall down from the stairs. Mother had an awful grimace on her face. I started to scream "mother, mother do you hear me"...and then I tamed her head toward me; her entire body was very stiff and the glance of her blind eyes was so distant...she was slowly suffocating. My husband called 911. They came immediately and after first aid, they took my mother to emergency room. My brother, my older daughter, and I had spent whole night at the hospital keeping in touch with our mother. Our feelings have been mixed because the condition of our mother has been critical: anyway, she didn't give up to the end. Even the doctor from the hospital told us that people in our mother condition usually get paralyzed and simply bowl from the pain. He said That our mother is a person from the ..."Old School." In July 24,2000 they moved my mother from intensive care section to the place in hospital we named the finish off section...! She was conscious and able to grasps whatever was happening around her but she barely could talk. In July 25, 2000 I went to the hospital to visit my mother. Her condition got much worse and nurse told me that the end is expected this night or next day in the morning. We spent the entire night beside our mother bed incessantly watching her ... the night passed happily... July 26, 2000 Wednesday ... The day was cloudy andrainy...Mother didn't open hey eyes anymore, she did it only when someone touched or spoke louder to her. We were observing mother's every breath. That afternoon I had noticed that she got convulsions and my heart filled up with extreme pain they were the spasm before departure. It was early evening when my brother left the room for a while leavingme alone with mother ...suddenly she straighten up her legs and opened wide her blind eyes...I quickly jumped to the morphine machine meanwhile asking my mother if she got increasing pain and if I should add more morphine...Mother only looked at me with the distant glance of her eyes then she tighten up strongly or rather bit up her lower lip and turned her eyes up...I didn't know what to do, how could I help her; I didn't know what was happening...Suddenly, after all this, our mother gave up her last breath...And I howled with pain loudly screaming: "MAMO DON'T LEAVE, DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE..."
ZOFIA KORZENIOWSKA was the daughter of the late Stanislaw and Helena PIETRAS. She was 67.
Born: September 8,1932
Passed Away: July 26,2000 at 7:38 p.m.
By Malgorzata K. Aly. My Mom was a walking angel on this planet. She was not only a mom and grandmom but the best friend a person could ever have. My mother was and always is a survivor against cancer. She loved gardening, people, and had a good heart for everyone. She was loved by everyone. People inspired her kindness and love wherever she appears, even though they only met her once. Zofia was the best grandmother, mother and friend a person could ever have.
Malgorzata Aly