Home U.S. Coin Forum
Options

Please post a 1916 coin...

kazkaz Posts: 9,256 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited February 26, 2019 2:38PM in U.S. Coin Forum

In honor of my Mom, who passed away last Tuesday. She was 103! That might be a tough year, so a 1943 coin would be good too, as that is when she married my Dad. She was an amazing lady, who was doing remarkably well until about 6 months ago, when her mind started to go. Even so, she still was her old self much of the time. My sister and I went to see her last weekend, thank goodness, and she was doing pretty well, but Tuesday AM she passed away quietly with one of her devoted caregivers close by . She lived in the home that she and my Dad had built in 1956, and never lived more than 50 miles from where she was born, except for when she went to W&M.
She was a real Southern lady. I never heard her use profanity, and never heard her speak badly of anyone (although the town gossip was one of her friends). She always insisted on looking nice and never owned a pair of jeans or sweatpants. Everything always matched. If you were a nephew, great nephew, grandchild, etc, you would receive a birthday card every year (often with a gift inside); she made everyone feel special. Our family would have a reunion most years, and Mom was the big draw. She had an encyclopedic memory of family history and anecdotes, going back to HER grandparents, and never failed to delight everyone.
Flower arranging was her special gift and she won many awards, but not until she was 90 did she take a blue ribbon in a state wide competition. She loved history and was a member of the DAR and Colonial dames, and very proud of our Revolutionary ancestors. She also loved her church and went every Sunday until she was no longer able. She truly lived a Christian life.
Mom was also tough. She broke her hip in a fall when she was about 96, and did not activate the emergency pendant she was wearing, (don't make a fuss!) but called one of her aides who had just left, after crawling across the floor and lifting herself up so she could reach the phone on the bedside table. After surgery , she went to rehab and 3 months later we took her to the beach for vacation and she had a great time. More recently she had slipped to the floor before her aide could catch her and fractured a vertebra; she didn't want anything stronger than tylenol, and didn't take much of that.
When my Dad's alzheimer's worsened (around 2000) and it was clear he could not longer ascend to the upstairs bedroom and bathroom, my sister and I were sure he would have to move to a nursing home. We were wrong. Mom hired an architect and a contractor and added a new bedroom and handicapped bathroom to the house. She hired aides (one of whom stayed on for 19 years and basically became a member of the family) and Dad spent the rest of his days at home.
She had composed her obituary, included her favorite photo, and outlined her memorial service several years ago to save my sister and me the extra stress (don't make a fuss!). She also added a note that she wanted us to have a luncheon for the family at the same restaurant where we celebrated her 100th birthday. She would have been pleased; many stories were told, there was much laughter, and no one went home hungry.
Thanks for letting me ramble, my friends.
Peace.
Kaz

Comments

Leave a Comment

BoldItalicStrikethroughOrdered listUnordered list
Emoji
Image
Align leftAlign centerAlign rightToggle HTML viewToggle full pageToggle lights
Drop image/file