Well we all had tears rolling down our faces, I assumed they were from laughing. I could only imagine what was going through the minds of everyone walking by us. I am sure we looked like absolutely horrible people that needed to be reported to someone or anyone.
Strength
My mom’ s strength is what I envied the most. No matter what was thrown at her, she had the strength to overcome it. Losing her husband, raising us kids on her own, and fighting an excruciating battle with cancer. It was her strength and determination that kept us all going. It was a long and horrific battle at times. Many times, we thought we were going to lose her, but she pushed through it because she wasn’ t ready to go.
Once we finally pulled ourselves together we got that“ Only You Girls” look that she always gave us when she was trying to act annoyed with us, but really wanted to laugh. We did eventually get her sat back up and situated so we could keep going. I know what you all must be thinking, but in my defense, we called it even for her leaving me at a gas station in Florida.( That is a story of its own).
That was our last stop of the trip down, which turned out to be the best thing we could have done for her. I am not sure if it was her pure determination or because she feared for her life, but I am happy to say that we brought her home from Pennsylvania walking like she hadn’ t in months.
After one of her extended stays in the ICU, we finally got to take her home in a wheelchair. My sister in law and I decided it would be a great idea to take her on a trip to Pennsylvania. We figured as kind of a last hurrah to say goodbye to her brothers and one of her dearest friends because we really didn’ t think she would recover. During our second bathroom break in the first half hour of our trip we began to question our decision and seriously thought about turning around. There was absolutely No Way she was letting us do that. About the third or fourth stop we were still“ trying” to get the hang of the in and out of the car. We kind of got a little excited trying to figure it out and she sort of went flying across the back seat of the truck.
As my mom was lying there floundering aimlessly across the back seat, like a new surfer paddling to catch her first wave, we realized that our system of you pull I push was seriously flawed. I would like to say that we held our composure, but none of us could stop laughing hysterically.
Caring and Compassion
She was one of the most caring and compassionate women that anyone would ever meet. She would have given the shirt off her back if it was the last thing that she owned. As a kid, I remember going shopping with her to buy Christmas presents for families that couldn’ t afford anything. The local Marine Corp Toys for Tots chairman always told her he could count on her to donate her pillows and other gifts to the program.
18 THRIVE MAGAZINE