This morning I received a phone call from the assisted living home where my mom had been living since August. She was missing. After an extensive search, she was found, laying in the woods, dead.

She had been so happy the past few months. She made a good friend at the facility, went on all of the outings, and enjoyed her Sundays with me and Dennis.

I think she was out looking for something and got disoriented and lost. My only hope is that she died quickly, and that she was not in pain for very long.

I am shocked and so saddened for you. I can't imagine how you must feel. The only way to look at this is that it was God's plan. A tough one to believe, but this is out of the ordinary, especially after all you've done to see to it that she was well cared for.

Bless you for being the attentive, loving, caring daughter that you've been. I'm surrounding you with love and prayers and strength to get through this week.

Bless you Ann and may you be strong in the days to come.

Ann, others have responded at this link:

http://www.boomerwomenspeak.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=194445#Post194445

Oh Annie, I'm so very, very sorry. Please know you are in my thoughts and prayers. Bless her heart. This is such sad news.

I just heard from the medical examiner, and it seems she did not die of natural causes, but hypothermia. I hope you are right, Anne, and that she did not suffer. But when I saw her, her eyes were open and it was obvious she had been trying to get back on her feet.

I don't blame the facility for her wandering - but I do want to know what 911 wasn't called when she was first deemed missing. I hear the last time anyone saw her was noon, and it wasn't until after I arrived at 9 the next morning that they did an outside search and called the police. That tells me there is a great lack of protocol practices.

Thank you, one and all.

Anno, I'm shocked and deeply saddened for you, particularily given such circumstances.

I hope you will contact a public agency responsible for licensing the nursing home or the local press ...if you don't get far on the protocol investigation.

But later.

Anno, I just found this post and learning about the details of your mother's death. I was at the other posting first.

You should call for an investigation if you have unanswered questions. You may help others in the future with actions you take now and answers may ease your pain.

I'm so, so sorry and sending more prayers.

I too just found THIS posting. I am speechless!!!

Ann, I appreciate that the circumstances surrounding your Mom's demise would raise a lot of questions. It is par for the course and I emphatise. That dreaded phone call is a shared circumstance when my Mom passed away suddenly and I was not there. I still raise questions occasionally as to whether those around her at that time did the best they could under the circumstances.

Grief and questions are the strangest bedfellows even under better (if one can call it that) circumstances. However, for the moment, I hope you allow yourself time and space for bereavement. If you deal with the questions now, I would not want you to go through what I went through because it casts a shadow in the heart already burdened with grief. If the nursing home is in breach of duty of care, it will still remain a breach of duty that you can raise later on. For the moment, you must keep your spirit and heart calm despite the circumstances. It was the only way I could process the sudden loss of a parent and I hope it helps you in the same way.

If there is anything I can do to help with raising questions later, I will only be too glad to help. My thoughts and prayers for you and Dennis are constant and consistent. I only wish I lived closer in order that I can offer more practical help.