When the last cherry blossom falls, so will my axe. Sharron and John planted this tree 22 years
ago when they moved into the little three bedroom house on Cherry Court
together. Newlyweds at the time they
thought it would be a great starter home, but with only having one son, they
never really needed more.
When Sharron was diagnosed last spring she would sit under
this tree and read the literature the doctors sent her home with. Her tears fell to the ground eventually being
soaked up by the roots. The tumor just a
little white speck on the CAT scan, but out of reach for even the most skilled
surgeon, would eventually be what ended their marriage; 25 years together, 23
married
As Sharron started to accept her fate over the summer
months, she took control of tying up the loose ends. Making sure the house was now only in John’s
name, avoiding the estate taxes if her name was still on the title at her
death. Sorting out all of her jewelry
that she knew her daughter in law would want.
She spent many nights going through old photo albums. As the months passed she got around to all
sorts of little projects. After the
first MRI the doctors wanted to get follow ups every other month to track the growth
of the tumor. That kind of schedule doesn’t let you escape reality very
easily.
One night lying in bed together John asked her if she had
any kind of bucket list, a trip she would like to take or even a perfect date
night he could plan for her. Her
response made him cry.
“John, you have given me a life full of perfect date nights
and every trip we have gotten to take has been wonderful. My bucket is full.”
That was a turning point for John, finally accepting what
was happening. All he wanted was to make
Sharron happy. Knowing that he had was a
weight lifted. Not that it made any of
this OK but he was willing to accept it now.
In September Sharron started having trouble with
coordination and with her speech. She
would lose her balance from time to time as well. One Sunday when Rick and Olivia were over for
dinner she stumbled and splashed pasta sauce on Olivia’s dress. Embarrassed she pulled John into the kitchen
and broke down crying, knowing it couldn’t wait any longer. Olivia had walked in to get a wet rag to
clean up the sauce and saw them.
“It’s ok Sharron; it’s just a little sauce. If it doesn’t come out it will be my new
gardening dress.”
Sharron tried to hold back her tears which just made them
come harder and faster. John helped her
back into the Dining Room after she regained her composure. They all sat around the old wooden table and
Rick started.
“What’s going on mom?”
“Your mother is not crying because of the pasta sauce Rick,
She… We have something to talk to you about.”
“What’s wrong?” Ricks face going pale in anticipation of bad
news.
“In April I had an incident.
I was pulling weeds in the flowerbed out back and the left side of my
body went numb. I fell to the ground and
laid there for about 30 minutes before I started to get feeling back. I thought
I had a stroke so we went to the emergency room. After running a lot of tests they found a
white spot on the CAT scan. Two days later I got my first MRI. The white spot turns out to be between the Cerebellum
and the brain stem. “ At this Rick
grips Olivia’s hand and loses all color in his face.
“What your Mom is getting at here Rick is that she has a
tumor in her brain in a spot that the surgeons cannot reach without causing
more damage than the tumor is causing.
As it grows it is putting pressure against her brain stem and is causing
her to have coordination and speech issues.
We wanted to hold off telling you for as long as possible.”
“Is there anything that can be done?” Rick gets up and walks
around the table to hug his mom. He
falls to his knees next to her chair and hugs her tight. “I love you so much mom. I wish there was something I could do.”
“I know son, I would give anything to be here next year
having dinner with you.”
That is when the tears really started flowing. Hearing it in those terms, she won’t be hear
a year from now.
It was actually about a month later. October 25th Sharron Elisabeth
Donnelly fell down in the kitchen after making a cup of tea. She laid there motionless for 5 minutes
staring at the ceiling before she died.
In those 5 minutes her mind wandered from her childhood, riding her bike
along the lakefront in downtown Chicago. Meeting John in college, seeing him at
the party her friend was throwing for Halloween. The day he proposed while they were on
vacation in Florida. Buying their house
and planting the tree out front because the lawn seemed so barren without
one. Giving birth to Rick and seeing him
grow up and find a wife of his own.
After the funeral John went home and noticed that the leaves
on part of the Yoshino Cherry tree were turning brown instead of red. The next spring when everything else was
blooming back to life almost half of the tree refused to grow leaves. It was going to have to come down. He decided to let it blossom one last
time. After a long and lonely winter he
was out front every morning watching the cherry blossoms on the tree. His axe sharp but sitting in the shed out
back until the last blossom fell.
