Mom/Gwen

The day has come when my mom is no longer living on the earth.

I sure hope I can express myself appropriately. I thought I would wait until after the services, but I'm afraid I'll miss important little bits of conversations and thoughts if I wait. I don't think I'll upload many pictures just now.

Mom passed peacefully in her sleep on Monday 3 December 2012 at 8:55 a.m. at the hospital in Great Falls, Montana. We hugged and kissed her goodbye the Saturday after Thanksgiving after visiting over a period of four days. SO GLAD we got to see her then (nine days before she passed) as well as in July! SO GLAD she had all of her intelligence, wit, humor, and sarcasm! She would say things like, "I don't know what you have to do to get a cup of coffee around here and when they finally bring it, it's strong enough to float a battleship!"

I asked, "Mom, how's the food?" She lit up with a huge smile on her face and said, "Oh my gosh, the RICE is amazing! I just love the rice! I get it twice a day every day!" She hated rice. She kept asking them to stop bringing it.

I called the lady at Meals on Wheels to suspend Mom's account while she was between the hospital and the nursing home these past three weeks. Being a small town, Bertie inquired about Mom's welfare, etc., so I told her, "She doesn't like the rice!" Bertie chuckled and said, "Oh, we all KNOW she doesn't like rice! We try real hard to keep it out of her meals!"

She was craving food like a Holocaust victim. We would be chatting in her room and a commercial would come on the television. Mom would stop and stare and ask, "Doesn't that lasagna look SO good?" She talked about cheesecake, wraps, burgers, and more. I called her the other day and she said, "Describe for me...what you are having for supper tonight."

Supper. She cooked a lot of those and she was good at it. And she could get it on the table faster than anyone you've ever met. She used to own a restaurant and all those years in that industry transferred to the home. Not even Costco can beat her pumpkin pie, in my humble opinion.

She was supposed to be released from the nursing home this Friday, the day before her graveside service. She was doing so well! She just wanted to go Home and I guess she sort of got her wish! She was getting stronger every day, doing things more independently, and getting rave reviews from her physical therapist, Jane. Mom knocked the socks off Jane every time they had a therapy session together. Mom was the toughest, strongest, most determined person ALL of her doctors had ever worked with--we've been hearing this from them for a long time. One medical professional told me, "I'm not sure why she's made it this long, but I have to admire her sheer grit and pioneer spirit!"

I will conclude this post by saying that between the sporadic crying jags and the funny stories and memories that keep popping up, I have been enjoying a great measure of Peace. It's hard, but it's all okay. God is watching over us!