I remember that moment like it was yesterday. Guilt won't allow me to forget. It's continued to torture me off and on for the last fourteen years. Just when I think that perhaps I'm ready to move on, it raises its ugly head and jettisons me back to the day we betrayed her.

This afternoon, it presented itself in an oppressive nondescript white milky sky. Plump full of foreboding, it hovered in heavy shades of depression, drawing my mind to dark places, as I hurried across the street to the parking lot, trying to beat it to my car before the next cloud-burst.

I'd spent an inordinate amount of time, already, ruminating about my recent bout with the flu and a busted water tank that leaked all over my downstairs. Maybe, I was simply setting the stage for the uncontrollable outburst that forced me off the road halfway home.

The rain was coming down in buckets, but all I could see was the storm brewing in that rear view mirror. I wasn't able to choke back the sobs as I remembered the innocent look on mom's face as she stooped to pet her long time companion Peppy. Then, reluctantly, she allowed my sister and me to steer her down the front steps of her cherished home and all of its memories, into the car; Unaware that she would never return.

The scene ended as it always does with the car approaching the main entrance and me trying to distract her because she was still cognizant enough to read the sign: Good Shepherd Nursing Home.