This is in essence an art blog, but today I want to share about my lovely sister, Jacqui - Jacqueline Rose - who passed away last Sunday, 7/11/21. Jacqui was a tremendously brave person. In 2016 she had a fall which led to a dramatic change in her life. The fall led to a 3 day coma, but after two weeks in hospital, it was revealed that the underlying cause was viral encephalitis of an unknown origin. The virus literally damaged Jacqui's brain, impacting her cognition and skills and she woke up in another life, as it were. I became her 'guardian', helping her negotiate and manage the complexities of life. We did this journey together for 5 years.
But as I share in my Face Book post, 2021 simply over came her.
I began this Jacqui collage last Sunday afternoon when a nurse called me to say Jacqui was not doing well, would not take liquids or yogurt and they would try further and check back with me later. Jacqui had been fading, but things did not seem imminent. I sat at my computer and began going through photos and gathering ones that spoke to me. I worked with them and began placing them into a collage. The nursing home called me at 5pm to say they felt she was leaving and I told them to call her husband right away. I don't live where she was, so I could not get there. At 5:27, the call came that she had, indeed, 'slipped away'.
Yesterday, I was emotionally able to return to the collage because I wanted it to mark the first week of her passing. It is not her whole life, just elements of her and I and with our parents. It is Sisters.
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| Sisters - Jacqui Rose collage |
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