Man tweets the anguish of his mother’s dying moments
JULY 30, 2013
THESE are the tweets that will melt your heart: Scott Simon is detailing his mother’s dying moments in messages that are just 140 characters but overflowing with love.
Simon, the host of the US National Public Radio show Weekend Edition, has been tweeting from the bedside of his mother Patricia Lyons Simon for the past few days, with the dying moments being shared with his 1.2 million Twitter followers.
Some of the messages are brief, others are humorous. Mostly, they are filled with the love a son has for his dying mother
“I am getting a life’s lesson about grace from my mother in the ICU. We never stop learning from our mothers, do we?,” he tweeted on Friday.
About 10am AEST, he tweeted that her heart rate was dropping.
And 40 minutes later she was gone. As Simon said:
There are plenty of internet sensations. This is a sensational use of the internet, and one that shows that you don’t need more than 140 characters to tell all that needs to be said.
My mother & I just sang Que Sera Sera 3 times. God bless you Doris Day for giving us such a great theme song.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 27, 2013
Mother & I just finished a duet of We'll Meet Again. Every word has meaning. Nurse looks in, asks, "Do you take requests?"
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 27, 2013
Mother: "I don't know why this is going on so long. I'm late for everything I guess."
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 27, 2013
I don't know how we'll get through these next few days. And, I don't want them to end.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 28, 2013
In middle of nights like this, my knees shake as if there's an earthquake. I hold my mother's arm for strength–still.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 29, 2013
Heart rate dropping. Heart dropping.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 29, 2013
The heavens over Chicago have opened and Patricia Lyons Simon Newman has stepped onstage.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 30, 2013
In May, he tweeted a photograph of his mother in the studio.
My mother, enthralled as her son conducts interview at @WBEZ : pic.twitter.com/geM9tHdfxK
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) May 21, 2013