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Mom was an amazing and generous woman. She was also extremely gregarious. If
you were to ask for something, my mother would give it, and then some. To give
an example, a neighbor friend came by one day and asked for a cup of sugar to
bake a pie. My mother, being the type of person that she was, invited the
neighbor in, gave her a cup of sugar, then a bag, some spare pie that we had in
the refrigerator and asked her if she would like a cake, as well.
I am not sure where my mother got these notions from. I think it was just in
her nature. My mother had a laugh that would light up a room. It was as I said,
in her nature. If you heard my mother laughing, you would by nature start
laughing. She was the type of person that would have crinkles in her eye
creases, because she could not help but have them. Her laugh was infectious, in
a good way.
When we discovered that my mother had cancer two years ago, we were all
devastated at the news. However, mom simply looked at all of us and told us to
hush up, that it was not the end of the world, they were just going to take out
her stomach.
Most of us would be appalled at such a thing. Mom simply thought that some
people may need food more than she did. However, knowing my mother like I did, I
thought that this was a horrible thing. My mother was known to love her wines,
her sweets, her pies and other things. My mother would hear none of it. So, she
continued in her ways. Baking pies, baking sweets and other things, and instead
of eating them, she continued to distribute them to others.
When I sat back in my home and cried, mother would call me up on the phone
and ask me how I was doing and if I would like to come over and help out. I
could not understand it.
However, as things got worse, I gradually realized that mom would not have
the strength or energy to continue. She was admitted to the hospital for
treatments. For a while, she seemed to improve. Mary and I had a baby. Mom came
to the baptism and clapped like a wild woman, danced somewhat, and then sat and
allowed us to wheel her around at the reception.
Mom was a party lady. She was the life or the party. In her last moments in
hospice, she fought valiantly. The nurse told us that she could not understand
why it took so long for her to pass. She spent hours gasping for her last
breaths. We told her that while mom was generous, she was not so generous to
give up those last breaths of life. Mom truly was a woman that loved life, and
all it had to offer. We are so glad that we had the opportunity to share life
with her, and intend to share her legacy with her grandchildren.
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