Today is the second anniversary of my mom’s passing. Complications from Alzheimer’s was the cause of her death but that disease took her away from us long before she died.
My mom lived a rich and full life, spreading her joy to all who had the pleasure of knowing her. She spent the first 25 years of her life in the Danvers/Bloomington, IL area. She then married her college love and with his Army and Sears careers their lives were filled with a growing family and a series of moves every 2-3 years. Moving is stressful but this lady could unpack boxes, set up a home, and have dinner on the table in record time.
When Mom went into assisted living, she was not happy about leaving her home of 40+ years. Prior to that, my sibs and I tried to find a smaller house or condo for her but she refused. The thought of having to downsize and depart with any of her treasures overwhelmed her and froze her ability to think practically. Change is not easy at any age. It gets harder as we age and become comfortable in our lives and lifestyles. She loved her comfortable, organized home that was a base and welcoming place for family and friends.
The move to Dayton, OH was our last and this was an area full of Ohio history. Mom was a History and Elementary Ed major and she plunged into exploring the area, taking her four kids on many, many “field trips.” She knew southwestern Ohio and Dayton like the back of her hand. When she finally moved kicking and screaming into assisted living, my brother and I made a point of regularly taking her on short trips around town. What had been familiar to her was now unfamiliar. When taking her to places she had been before she would say with excitement, “I’ve never seen this before!” This, of course, was not true, but when dealing with an Alzheimer’s patient, you have to enter his or her world. And from her world, I learned to see the familiar through her eyes.
"In truth a family is what you make it. It is made strong, not by the number of heads counted at the dinner table, but by the rituals you help family members create, by the memories you share, by the commitment of time, caring, and love you show to one another, and by the hopes for the future you have as individuals and as a unit."
~ Marge Kennedy
The memory may leave but the memories remain.
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| Yellow Springs sunflower field with my sister |
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| Four generations photo...Mom with her first great-grandchild |
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| Grandson's graduation from Ohio State |
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| At Frank Lloyd Wright's Westcott House |
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| Carlock, IL |
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| Garden Station |
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| She so loved books ~ |
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| Grateful that we were all together for her last birthday |
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