“The long and winding road
That leads to your door
Will never disappear
I've seen that road before
It always leads me here
Lead me to you door”
~ John Lennon / Paul McCartney
For many, life is a long and winding road. For a person of faith, that road leads to the ultimate door — the gates of Heaven. Our faith tells us that when we arrive there, we will experience a direct encounter with God, and reunion with loved ones who have traveled this road ahead of us. Kathy’s mother, Norma Hamm, is such a person of faith. Her 86-year journey down the road of life has certainly had its fair share of turns. Around some corners she was treated to amazing, memorable experiences, while other corners revealed a darkness through which, by the grace of God, she found her way.
Norma is almost home. She is steadily making her way to that final door. Before she gets there, however, she has one last turn in the road. On Tuesday, Kathy’s mother will move in with us on Panda Lane.
Norma Jean Clark was born and raised in the south side of Chicago. In the early ‘50s, she met Larry Hamm while working for the phone company. They married and eventually moved to Prairie Village, Kansas. After several of their children were born, they moved west, following Larry’s job to Sunnyvale, California. Norma and Larry raised eight kids and were active participants at Saint Lawrence the Martyr Parish in Santa Clara.
Larry passed away in November 2001. Norma, with the support of family and friends, continued to live an active life for twenty more years. She played bridge with friends, swam on a regular basis at the YMCA, and enjoyed seeing her grandchildren grow into adulthood. As the years passed, and Norma experienced some medical issues, she knew it was time to make a change. She moved into the Villa Fontana Retirement Community in San José, where she quickly made friends and got involved in many of the social activities offered there.
Unfortunately, in 2020, Norma took a fall and broke the femur bone in her left leg. Her time in the hospital, followed by several months in a rehabilitation center, coincided with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. The combination of factors took a toll on Norma. When she returned to Villa Fontana, her new room was in the memory care unit.
In recent weeks, it’s been clear that Norma is approaching the final stage of her life journey. The staff at Villa Fontana has done all they can do to help her. Now in hospice care, Norma will spend her final days with family. While to some, this may seem like a hardship, to Kathy and her siblings, it is yet another reason to be grateful. All family members will have unlimited access to visiting their mother in her final days, and Norma will be blessed with the presence of the children she raised so well.
Knock, knock, knockin’ on Heaven’s door.
~ Bob Dylan
