Memo to myself for next year... no major decisions the week before Mother's Day. When you have major surgery there is a clause on the release forms you sign that I probably should have read before deciding to purchase a house while I was on percocet. I am paraphrasing, but it goes something like "wait two weeks after surgery before making major decisions." I heeded that advice after surgery in 2012 to repair my clavicle, but missed it after the surgery in 2004 to remove a tumor in my finger and nearly bankrupted myself. That story has a happy ending and is a tale for another time. On May 12, 2007 we took my mother to the hospital to be hydrated. She had been battling cancer since October, 2006 and the chemotherapy was running roughshod through her weakened immune system. May 12 also happened to be her birthday. I arrived at my parents house that morning with some presents, a baby blue hand knit purse with wood handles is the only thing I can remember