The Bell My Mother Rang

The 18th of December was her last day; she neither knew the date nor cared to. Gathered at the hospital, keeping vigil, we never overcame her fright, or ours. The pain, too great to be driven away, was only managed with IV drips, needles stuck in bruised appendages -- bony things, arms and legs, hands and feet. Above the medicines and washes, we sniffed her scent, which, more than her familiar face, identified our mother -- a smell we never could mistake for any other. It went quickly as her body cooled. The rouged and pickled carcass they displayed was more a statue than a person. We planned to bury her with homely tokens, like an ancient mummy: a family photo, a brooch she liked, a pink hairbrush -- and the brass bell she rang to call her keeper during her last years. But, when the time came, I could not bear to see her leave so finally. I took the bell from her metal box. Now, I ring it -- not to bring a keeper, but to recall my mother on her birthday, and on many dark days when I need her.