Remembering Mom Today

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Like many of you my Mom was very special to me. She was my girl scout troup leader. She would help me make floats and enter in the kid's day parade. She came up with craft projects for rainy or cold winter days. She made just every day life fun. I remember when I was about 8 we went fishing at the river. Mom fished, I munched on oatmeal cookies. After awhile she ran out of bait so she started using the raisins out of the cookies. Within minutes mom had landed a huge cat fish and pulled it to shore. The thing was so big she couldn't hold it and take the hook out, and I was too little to manage it also. So, she put a folded lawn chair on top of it, planted me on top of the fish to hold it down and took the hook out. The men fishing down the bank were rolling with laughter while she did this. Then they asked her what she used for bait. They laughed even harder when she told them. Mom was always there for me, especially when life got rough. Three years ago she helped me move to south Texas to be closer to her when I was struggling to survive up north. Our plans were to spend alot of quality time at the beach looking for shells, floating in the pool and just enjoy spending time together, since we had lived far apart for so long. I moved here in June of 2005 and by September 2005 we discovered she had lung, bone and liver cancer. All of our great plans were shot down. Mom was in severe pain but she was a fighter. She had numerous radiation and chemo treatments. I took her to almost all of them. I'd sit in the waiting room, or if allowed next to her while she underwent treatment after treatment. We both laughed and cried when her hair fell out. She had so many broken bones from the cancer and they couldn't be repaired so she was soon in a wheel chair. Her goal was to live and die with grace, humor and dignity. Apparently I was meant to be here and to help her thru this tough time. A year ago today I lost my mom, my best friend, to cancer. The stupid disease won. But even at the end she was more worried about us, her family, than she was about herself. To try and ease her worries I sat by her before she died and told her I would be fine, I would take care of Dad and her fur babies, and she didn't have to worry about me anymore. She cried as I said this, but I think felt relieved. Holding her as she took that last breath was the hardest thing I've ever done. This last year has gone fast in some ways, and slow in others. I'll always miss her. So today I ask all of you to remember your family, think of them with love, and know that we never know how things will work out. So enjoy what you have now, while you have them.