When she died we were absolutely devastated. All I did was cry for many many months afterwords. She had complications of Crohn's Disease. She was 31. We did everything together and she touched many lives over her lifetime. We received cards from people we did not know. In fact, we had never heard of them. They had met her and she touched their lives. After my husband died in July, 2006, I knew that her death was for the best. My husband could not have stood leaving her behind with all of her health problems and he knew that she could not have made it without him. I told someone in the family that after he died and they came up to me later and said they agreed with me. That may sound crazy but we really believe that. My mom was the glue that held the family together! She was an amazing Christian lady who had had much heartache over the years. Her dad died when she was about 21, all of her siblings except for one sister had gone on ahead of her. She had lost a daughter, a son, a granddaughter, grandson, great-grandson, and many cousins. Most of her childhood friends were gone too. People are amazed at how well I am doing. Like I told someone on this site and at church, I could either have the biggest pity party the world had ever seen or I could pop back up like that kid's punching toy. I hate parties so I chose the other. Sure I miss them but I know I will see them again and they will not have any health problems. I may not know the reason so much has happened to us but God does and that is what is important. I just have to trust Him which I do. Am I on a soapbox????
My mom had 3 living children, 14 grandchildren, 24 greats, and 5 gggrandchildren. The youngest was just a month old.