Posted on 08/05/2004 5:39:37 AM PDT by conservatism_IS_compassion
FRiends, an indeterminate project has proved to have lasted a little over five years and is now over. She who bore me, nurtured me, and encouraged me to develop my own intelligence has at last rest from the indignity of gradually losing her own faculties to Alzheimers' Disease.She was born in Oklahoma in 1916, graduated from teacher's college at the age of 18, married at 19 and the mother of two boys at age 22. She taught elementary school until WWII, worked at Douglas Aircraft in Tulsa during the war, and taught 2nd grade near Philadelphia for 25 years. She was widowed in 1978.
It fell to me as her only able-bodied child to sustain what dignity I could to her since our determination in March 1999 that she no longer was the intelligent, independent woman my brother and I had known all our lives. It was difficult sometimes but (sustained by my wife), most of the time I was able to accept the situation after each stage arrived. The seventh stage of her illness was wearing on me, making me feel guilty about not wanting to tend to thankless tasks - but that stage started fairly abruptly and ended yesterday after just over 2 months. Hospice was helpful in that stage, and would have been more so had I leaned on it more - as I had just decided to do when suddenly it was over.
Mother is survived by two married sons, three grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters ages two months and 6 years - and by one of her three full brothers and three of her four sisters.
The thought would have pleased her that she was taken for her son's wife when she was 85, and that she retained the natural hair color of her youth on her last day. She was 87.
Prayers for you and your Mother.
Rest assured your Mother is basking in the Glory of the heavenly Father.
My Mother also has the terrible Alzheimers' Disease, and I know someday I will have to face the sad day of saying goodbye to her. But I delight in knowing that someday we will be together again in new bodies, that will never age, tire, or grow sick. It is God's promise.
God Bless You and Yours.
My post does not seem to have gone through, but I know my prayer for your mom and for those who loved her did.
Heavenly Father, we return to give You thanks for the life of this dear wife and mother and sister ... thank You for her love and influence that will stretch down through the ages. Comfort her sons and their families and all who mourn her passing ... fill their hearts with memories of days past, unto the day of joyous reunion. In the Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen ...
My father (91 in two weeks) is rapidly falling victim to age related dementia, and my mother (83) is becoming obviously forgetful and occasionally confused.
My wife and I both feel so privileged to be the ones close enough to keep watch.
Prayers to you and your family.
Prayers for you and yours during this very difficult time.
Condolences to you, the extended family and mom's friends. Her greatness lives on through a fine son.
BTTT!!!!!!!
Prayers for you and your family.
So very sorry for your loss. What a lovely lady she must have been. God bless you and your family in your time of grief.
Condolences....
I am sorry for your loss.
Just last month, I lost my own mother, thanks to a brain hemmorhage due to the drug Cumodin that my mother was taking due to her hip surgery in May.
I miss her greatly, and being an only child with no family of my own, it has devastated me.
May God be with you.
God's peace for you and your mom's spirit. We often forget that the "greatest generation" was half female.
Saddened to hear of your loss, CiC. I'll be retiring shortly, and I'll say a prayer for her then. All the best, Byron
Prayers for your Mom, and for you and your family from Deep in the Heart of Texas.
Condolences and prayers to you and your family.
My prayers and condolences at the loss of your mother. May she rest in peace and may God give you and your family the strength to get through these difficult times.
Leni
Hey, condolences, CIC. God bless you for being a great son and honoring your mother in this way by telling us about her life.
BTW, my dad is 82 and has alzheimer-like symptoms. We're in the early stages here.
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