Hello.....Goodbye

I am pleased to announce that I am going to be a Grandma again! Heather and Bryce are going to be welcoming their second blessing in September! I am so excited for them.
And it is with great sorrow that I said goodbye to my Mommy on Jan. 22, 2010. She was awake and alert until the day before she died. My sister, Peggy, was in St. Louis visiting and called to tell me she wasn't doing well. She was having some trouble swallowing and was on an oxygen level of 10. I decided on Thursday to go to St. Louis. She was sleeping peacefully at 6:00 pm when I arrived. She never woke up again. I just tried to talk to her and let her know I was there. I hope she heard me. The nurses said she probably wouldn't make it through the night, but she did. She took her last breath at 6:00 am. Peggy and I were there holding her hand. It was very peaceful- no struggle or pain. The nurses were incredibly kind all night and that morning. They told her goodbye and that they loved her and would miss her. Two very special nurses even dropped their purses in the hall when they heard someone was needed to clean her up and get her ready for the funeral home to pick her up. They were off-duty but asked to be allowed to do this last thing for her and us. That was love- not duty!
I am so blessed to be in a close-knit family. My brothers and sisters are so wonderful and supportive. We will hopefully have all her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren together in Sarasota on February 22, 2010 to tell her goodbye as we deposit her ashes in the Gulf of Mexico that she loved so much!
I will miss my Mom so much, but I hope to see her again one day. So I say, " Hello new blessing and Goodbye precious Mommy. I love you both!!"