Death Came Between Us

How Cancer Spoiled an Otherwise Ideal Estrangement

By: S.M. Scott

Narrated by: S.M. Scott

Out of sight, out of mind—it was a game my mother and I played (and played well) for as long as I can remember, and then cancer spoiled our idyllic separation. What began with a Thanksgiving Day stroke and ensuing frantic long-distance phone call would become an odyssey reluctantly thrusting this firstborn son into the roles of accountant, chauffer, grief counselor, even white-collar criminal and all on behalf of a dying mother who was little more than an acquaintance.

Death Came Between Us, is a true story that chronicles what happens when the right man for the job is the wrong child for the job.

My mother’s demise at the hands of Glioblastoma serves as the foundation for this memoir and yet is merely the subplot in what was a tedious balancing act—facilitating her edict to die at home while also seeking some measure of closure in our oft rancid relationship. Part emotional resource guide, part cautionary tale, irony abounds in this sometimes poignant and more often acerbic narrative including a well-landed sucker punch from the great beyond and dare I say it, a happy ending!

©2022 Scott Schneider (P)2025 Scott Schneider