So Silent

          How had that feisty, independent woman transformed so quickly into the one that sits so quietly in the wheelchair staring out the window hour after hour? The slight whiff of death was about Mom when my husband found her lying on the floor in the dining room. Yet, she responded to his calm touch by regaining consciousness.
          25% of the elderly undergoing hip surgery die within the first year. Mom survived. Yet, she left so suddenly without even a good-bye. The warrior woman remains but metamorphosed into a silent stranger inhabiting my mother’s slender body while nevertheless aggressively resisting death.