KT Punks
The sudden heartbreak of losing my mom. Sending love to all far and wide who loved her and are missing your own mothers today.
The last few years have come with so many challenges regarding mom’s health. To be on the other side of it gives a good perspective of how wild it’s been. My mother’s decline really started in January 2020 before the pandemic. I am still in shock we lost her this March 14, 2026. I got a call from the assisted living facility and was asked if I was sitting down. I knew immediately she was gone, and not to be dramatic, but I sobbed uncontrollably for ten minutes and stood up immediately. It was shocking. It still is. Heart attacks show up differently for women as I keep learning. She had complained of feeling sick and by the time the staff came back to check on her, POOF, she was gone. Blogging and journaling has always been a great outlet for me so bear with me as I pour out my heart and memories of my beloved KTPunks Mommy.
Mom and I dancing at The What Not Inn in Fennville, Michigan. The journey to get to her to Douglas Cove is a bit fuzzy now, but I do remember that a dear high school friend (the singer in the below video actually) connected me with someone who specialized in placing people in eldercare facilities. I had such incredible support the whole way and this part was a no brainer. She wanted to be at the lake when given the option. Mom knew it was time for her to downsize and she didn’t resist the move, at all. We moved her to a rehab facility as a first step at Lake Michigan in November of 2022 because the spaces were limited in Kalamazoo, a 50 minute drive away. Mom LOVED the lake and when I gave her the option she was thrilled to be one mile from her beloved sunsets. And we expected she’d get strong enough to move home so we all decided to renovate some of her living spaces to make them easier to age at home. I had also lost my job in August 2022 so this was another strange blessing having the time to manage this chapter in our lives. Those COVID two years were a blur honestly and felt like a decade in the middle of it.
My brother took this epic photo that I still regret not using for our Christmas card in 2020. This sums up mom’s humor, joy and stubbornness all in one glorious photo. There were so many trips to the hospital for mom in 2020 that I can barely remember why she landed there at first but Eric and I drove the next day to be in Michigan and spoke to the doctors who used the word “dementia” for the first time. It was a gut punch. Eric’s father had suffered for 12 years with dementia and knew the battle intimately already.
