(*Note: this story was written in January, 2026)

August was a difficult month this year. More on that later. After my return from my Los Angeles trip on July 20th, I continued to settle into my new apartment and new area in Puerto Vallarta. I also continued my volunteer work at Petco with the cat adoptions. I do love that work. It’s every Saturday morning, from 10am-3pm for me, although the adoption center is open until 6pm on Saturday and until 4pm on Sunday. We always have 3-4 kittens usually ages 3 – 6 months. Everybody wants a kitten. The older cats at the refuge basically will live out their lives outdoors in the enclosed refuge. They are very comfortable there with plenty of shaded areas, trees, a giant litter box (sand box) and small “casitas” where the kittens are kept separate.

Mother had moved into her new senior living private home in early July. I visited her there when I was in Los Angeles in July. She was doing well, though my sister and I knew that she was slowing down. She tired so very easily and had no desire to leave the home. She spent her days in the living room with the TV shared with the other residents. My sister visited her several times a week, in between her work shifts. My nephew also visited her regularly. They loved watching the Dodgers together. The cover foto of this story is of my mother at Dodger Stadium wearing a jersey my nephew had made for her. It says Abuelita (Grandmother) and the number 90, as he gave it to her for her 90th birthday (about 2.5 years ago). We love this photo!!

The home where my mother lived had 4 other residents plus the young couple and their baby who were the care givers. It was a large, beautifully decorated and clean home. The three daily meals were programmed each day and lights out (bedtime) was around 8:30-9:00pm. That suited mother just fine, as she typically took a nap every afternoon and was in bed early as well.

I tended to speak to mother almost daily. Just sharing our daily experiences. She had an occasional visitor and she had become addicted to Iced Coffee from Del Taco (a fast food Mexican Restaurant, based in Southern California since 1964). The true “addiction” started during her stay at the Rehabilitation Center in Santa Monica, earlier this year. There was something about the coffee flavor that she loved and really enjoyed it over ice (it was a type of cold latte). She craved one daily and got her “fix” from her many visitors. I love that she enjoyed something so simple and that we were all able to bring her that small joy.

Mother started feeling poorly on Thursday, August 8th. I remember it well. My sister called me to say when she stopped by to see Mother, she kept saying I don’t feel right. But couldn’t articulate exactly what she was feeling. We made the caregivers and the hospice Nurse Supervisor aware. My sister ended up visiting our mother everyday that weekend. And again, on each visit mother was reserved and complained she didn’t feel well. Friday’s visit by the Hospice Nursing Supervisor found all her stats normal. So everyone was just keeping an eye on her.

On Monday, now August 11th, the Hospice Nurse was there early to give my mother her bath and medications. Again, her stats were normal. On Tuesday is when things started going downhill, regrettably. Late morning, the caregivers heard her fall in her room. My mother knew that she shouldn’t get out of bed on her own, and just that morning she been advised by the care givers to ring a bell if she needed to get up. The bathroom was just a short walk. She fell in her room only inches from her bed. She likely lost her balance.

The paramedics had been called and the caregiver put him on the phone with me. The paramedic said that my mother had a pretty serious 1-2″ gash on her forehead and a terrible bruise. We agreed that they should take her to the hospital. Meanwhile, I called my sister and she met mother at the hospital. By the time they got there it was around 12-1pm. I don’t recall the exact time.

It was a terrible day. The hospital where she was taken is very close to her home, however, it is notorious for being a hospital where serious injuries are taken (gun shots, stabbings, car accidents, etc.) so her wait was very lengthy. A doctor came by to check on her and told us they would sew up the cut on her head and gave her meds for the pain. It was awful for her. It took forever to get the stitches. She did sleep some, and she didn’t appear to be in a lot of pain, but she was uncomfortable. and most of her conversations were incoherent. I am thankful I did get a chance to speak to her on my sister’s phone and we told each other we loved one another. I truly appreciated that. As it turned out, it was the last time I was to speak with my mother.

I believe an ambulance took her back to the home around 3:00am. She had been at the hospital more than 12 hours!! This was Wednesday morning, August 13th. The next 24 hours went by very quickly. I discussed with my sister flying to Los Angeles. We made the decision that I should go ahead and buy my ticket and I did so, one way only. I busied myself with packing and making arrangements for a house and cat sitter for Lola (thank you, Eddy).

My sister arrived to see mother that evening after work and Hospice had sent a nurse to spend the night with her. We were relieved she would not be alone. The nurse’s name was Angel (so appropriate, as it turns out). Mother was mostly sleeping (thanks to the morphine), my sister prayed over her. She stayed rather late. Angel would be in the room with her all night and would be checking her vitals hourly. He agreed to keep in touch with us calling us regularly. I don’t think my sister and I slept more than 2-3 hours that night. He called my sister pretty regularly, and she in turn called me.

I was asleep when my sister called me at about 3:00am Los Angeles time. She had just gotten off the phone with Angel. He said mother was sleeping, although a bit fitfully. Her vitals were still good. He said he would call again if there were any changes. I think we hung up and perhaps we slept for 20-30 minutes. I got another call from my sister around 3:30-3:45am. Angel had told my sister he thought she should come down to the house. He thought it was time. Hospice Nurses, they know. They are the ones that provide end of life care.

My sister got ready to drive to see mother. It’s about a 20 minute ride. She woke up her son, who lives with her, and I stayed on the phone. It took her a few minutes to get things together, and as she was walking out the door, Angel called her again. I don’t recall if she did a 3-way call with me or not. What I do remember is that we were told that mother was gone. She took her last breath at 4:09am on Thursday, August 14th. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that date and time.

We honestly thought mother would make it through this terrible fall. We really did. But she was so weak and frail. Afterward, a couple of mother’s dear friends told us that she had told them a couple weeks before that she was tired and that she was ready. She never told us that.

From there, I don’t remember exactly what happened. We were in shock and heart broken. The tears would not stop. Angel told us he would take care of everything. And he did. It was incredible. He told us he would wait with her until the Mortuary came for her. Since everything had been arranged last month, all Angel had to do was make a call to the Mortuary, and they took care of everything. By now it was about 6:00am local time in Mexico. I started to get ready for my flight.

The next few days were difficult and challenging in so many ways. Several visits to the church and mortuary to coordinate mother’s service. We also visited a local florist and made decisions on the catering for the small reception we were planning.

Mother’s Funeral Mass was on Monday, August 25th. That was the only date where the church and priest were available and the cemetery as well. It was a longer wait than we expected, but there was no choice. It was a small service, just like mother wanted. She didn’t want a vigil, so we didn’t have one. The reception was held in the church courtyard and attended by about 75 people. We aren’t exactly sure. But we invited all of her friends and neighbors and it was open to the church parishioners as well.

My sister and I visited our dad the day after I arrived in Los Angeles. We gave him the news of mother passing. As you know from my other stories, our dad has dementia. He has great moments of lucidity where he remembers his past like it was yesterday. And many times, he indeed thinks it was yesterday. However, his short term memory is mostly gone. So although we told him about mother and he did ask, “was it her heart?” he did remember we told him she had a heart ailment. But he hasn’t asked about her since.

We celebrated his 95th birthday on August 22nd. And that weekend, our cousins from San Diego drove up for the funeral and we visited my dad. It was nice. Took him a minute, but he did remember them. During this two week trip, I also visited with my cousin Oscar. I took walks in the old neighborhood, as I stayed at my parent’s house with my sister and nephew who live there now. It was a tough two weeks. And once the funeral arrangements were made, I reserved my return trip to Mexico for Tuesday, August 26th. Yes, the day after the funeral, but both my sister and I were ready to “try” to get back to our lives. And my life is in Mexico.

And that about wraps up my August. I really don’t want to spend a lot of time talking about the funeral. Know that it was a lovely service attended by mother’s closest friends. It was great to see some people that we hadn’t seen in a long while. I was back in Puerto Vallarta the last few days of the month. And they were mostly quiet days, really. Just me and Lola.