Saying Goodbye...

No one said life would be easy...but how you deal with what life throws at you shows your true character.

Sadly, we will be saying goodbye to Mike's Mom this week.  She has been slowly slipping away from us for years now, as she struggled with vascular dementia.  I have to say, I truly admired this tenacious lady.  She had challenges thrown at her her entire life.  Her childhood was not easy, but she didn't succumb to it, and rose above it, marrying Mike's Dad at a young age and becoming a Mom to 4 in a short period of time.  She loved kids and connected at a their level which made them love her and love being around her.  She loved being "Gram Gram" to all her grandchildren.

I always admired the love she shared with her husband.  Many years before our son was born, Mike's Dad began to show signs of Alzheimer's Disease.  For years June took care of him with such love, devotion, and compassion.  It wasn't because she felt she had to, she once told me that he took care of her all their married life, it was her privilege that she take  care of him.  She kept him at home with her, eventually retiring from her job to care for him full time, until a few weeks before he died, only relenting then because his care was beyond her abilities.  I can't imagine how hard it was for her when he died, as they had been married nearly forty years.   That was the standard I held our marriage to...and as much as I love my husband, marriage is hard work...these two made it look easy.  With humor and affection they enjoyed the life they shared together.  I'm sure they are greeting one another now, happy to finally be together again.  Because of her tenacity, love for her family, compassion caring for her husband who, though he forgot everything else...never forgot who she was, and never feeling sorry for herself, she has won my heart and admiration.  I will miss you, Mrs. P.