My mom-tribute

This day 15 years ago my mom went to be with Jesus. I was 19 years old at the time and my sister was a senior in high school. My mom had brain cancer, she had 2 operations, chemo, radiation, a stroke her cancer was very aggressive. From the day she was diagnosed she lived about 9 months. I can say my mom had a incredible strength and grace the way she dealt with cancer. About 2 months after her first surgery she went to the doctor for a checkup. They came home and said the cancer had come back and was growing down her brain stem. They could try and remove some of the tumor, but it could have left her a vegetable the rest of her life. My mom chose not to have the surgery and spend her last months with us. You know I never saw her upset, she never left me and Jennifer see her mad. She was always so happy and smiling. What a blessing for me and Jennifer, we have some great memories. I will never forget her talking with me one day about not seeing Jennifer graduate, us get married have children, etc. She said she was going to miss that so much, but had to trust God knew what he was doing. She is such a inspiration to me. Wow, I can not even imagine having to say that to my children. What grace she had her last few months, she chose to spend it being happy and rejoicing instead of mad and upset. I can say I had to grow up real fast and take over for my mom. We opted to have Hospice come out to the house her last few weeks alive. I can not sing enough praises about Hospice, they truly are angels. We did not want her to be in a hospital her last few days. It is still so clear. I will never forget the morning she left us. My Dad came in and woke me up, he said he knew it wouldn't be long. So he called the nurse and the nurse said to spend time with her she would be gone within the hour. So we woke up my sister and all joined around her bed in the den. You have to understand the last few weeks she was alive she was in a light coma, she did not talk. I would sit with her as my sister would and talk about her favorite soaps, tell her anything, but no response. When we all gathered around her she looked at all of us smiled and said she loved us. I know in my heart that what she did right before she passed was such a great gift from God. She took a few more breaths and then she was gone. My Dad was the first to leave then my sister, I could not leave. I continued to sit there until the nurse showed up. My mom was my best friend, I owe so much to her and wish everyday that she was still here. She is missing out on her granddaughter and grandson, my wonderful husband, just my whole life in general. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of her. I did not realize how much she did until I had my daughter. It then hit me how much she did for us and how she always went above her call of motherhood. She always put us girls first, she held our family together. Since she has passed our family has suffered, my Dad has never recovered her death. Me and my sister are very close even though we live hundreds of miles apart. We try to talk weekly and keep up with each other with our blogs and email. I truly believe my mom would be proud of me and Jennifer. We both have great christian husbands and are trying to raise our children the way she raised us. I just wanted to let everyone know that I was blessed with a extraordinary mom who I will never forget. Mom, I miss you everyday, so much. I wish you were here to be a part of my everyday life. You would have been such a great grandmother and such a blessing to our children. You are always with me and I tell Savannah about you all the time. Thanks for being you and such a wonderful mom. I love you more than I can say.