Xenia DeMarco RIP

My mom passed away in her sleep yesterday morning, July 12, 2008. She was 96 years old.

Still here, but fading fast

We have been visiting X a couple of time each day. Yesterday she was a bit more responsive, making signs of pleasure when we massaged her feet a little, and even made a slight vocalization at the sound of my voice. Not so this morning. The nurse indicated that she is in constant decline, and perhaps has two or three more days left. Here's a photo of her from February 2007.

Looks like this may be it for X...

I got a call from the convalescent hospital today while at our rehearsal for the Bach Festival. My mother has taken a turn for the worse. We went down to visit her, and she was completely non-responsive. She was awake, with her eyes half open, and she was exploring her mouth and face with her fingers. She did not acknowledge our presence in any way - she was just in her own world. We had been there yesterday, talking about hospice with her. She was in good spirits, and even ate a hot dog that had been grilled on the patio for the 4th of July. That may have been her last surge of energy. According to our hospice book, this is typical of someone in their last few days or even hours of life. She is 96, so it is not a tragedy, but she is a great gal and will be missed.

Piano Grande Ancora

castelluccio country
Originally uploaded by paololivorno

Here is another glorious shot of the Piano Grande in HDR! Looks like this was a good year for the fioritura.

Temporale d'estate

Temporale d'estate
Originally uploaded by fotomassimo

I belong to a couple of Flickr groups, one of which is of the Sibilini Mountains National Park in central Italy. I found this photo to be quite striking, and made me wish I were there.

Interesting times

Derek is off to Australia today to be one of the presenters at a philosophy conference. Needless to say we are very proud. A very exciting time for him. Then tomorrow Sofia returns from Padova, after an incredible year. Apparently she will have a young Ligurian man in tow - I am anxious to meet him. Anyone who adores the Gabrielis and Monteverdi comes to town with a good reputation already ;-)

My mother is still at the convalescent hospital. She seems somewhat better, but it is beginning to look as if she will not be able to come home after all. She seems to want to stay there. Her mentation has been off ever since her TIA, and it is looking like she will need 24 hour care. In any event, she is to go on hospice in the next few weeks. We shall see. It is still in the process of being sorted out.