“We were at odds my whole adult life. My mom didn’t like my lifestyle. She wanted me to stay close to home, but I had big dreams and moved across the country to California. We just couldn’t find a way to get along with each other for so many years. Then she had a serious medical condition that caused me to come back home. It was Alzheimer’s… I decided to stay to help care for her, and during that time she became the mother I had always wanted. She was amazing. She would listen to music with me all the time, especially my favorite, The Avett Brothers. She began to let go of terrible events in her life, like the heartbreaking divorce from my dad that she never got over. She would just talk about the good things, stories about being young, stories I’d never heard in my life.
As her condition continued to get worse she came to live with us. But just a few months later she passed away. She took her last breath as we listened to ‘No Hard Feelings’. That song, at that moment, made me feel like everything was OK. It made me feel that she left in peace, and that I could be in peace. Taking care of my mom in the end was the gift of a lifetime.”
When my body won’t hold me anymore
And it finally lets me free
Will I be ready?
When my feet won’t walk another mile
And my lips give their last kiss goodbye
Will my hands be steady?
The Avett Brothers – No Hard Feelings
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