My wife and I planned our trip to Southern Illinois University to view the 2024 eclipse and invited Mom to join us.
As was typical, she wouldn’t commit; however, after quitting her teaching job, with nudges from my sister, she agreed to go. Out plans were to spend the previous night in St. Louis and drive to Carbondale together for the eclipse. It ended up being memorable for numerous reasons.
My wife is Gold Hilton Honors, so we booked and paid for her room. Low and behold, she got upgraded from a simple hotel room to a multi-room suite. Mom was initially confused when she entered and saw a mirror but no bed ….. and then took a left to an expansive room with large windows with views of Forest Park. She thought she should just move in!
Mom became an Iowa womens’ basketball fan – duh, Caitlin Clark – and we had taken her to the Iowa game in Madison, as tickets in Iowa City were impossible to come by. Our night corresponded to the NCAA Women’s National Championship between our beloved Iowa Hawkeyes and the South Carolina Gamecocks. Parked in front of the lobby TV with an assortment of Applebee’s appetizers we watched excitingly as Iowa quickly led by ten! Unfortunately, that was the highlight and our joy didn’t last, but it was fun nevertheless.
After a rest, we went to Brasserie by Niche for dinner. Initially intimidated by the choices and cost, even though we were paying, she ultimately chose something which she absolutely adored (I wish I could remember what). Nothing resembling fine dining exists in her area, so it was quite the treat and she definitely enjoyed it. Despite being busy, the restaurant wasn’t pushy and we were there for almost two hours.
In the simplest terms, the eclipse was a hours of driving for four minutes of darkness; more importantly, I spent a complete day with my mom, from breakfast until dropping her back off in St. Louis so she could drive home. Conversations in the car. Pre-eclipse activities that SIU had put together. Laughter with the realization that we had no sun block. And finally the eclipse, seeing her sitting on the grass looking up – through her protected sunglasses – at the sun as the eclipse proceeded.
On the drive back to St. Louis. she said The image of the eclipse will be burned in my mind for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, the rest of her life was only 8 months away. Perhaps we visited Mom in Iowa City briefly last summer – maybe not positive – otherwise that was the last time I saw her, spent time with her until the heart attack that ultimately took her life.
