Mom’s Passing

The following Message was sent out by Jen’s father.
She’s the one in the blue at the end of the table. This was from 1999.

Dear Friends and relatives,

Today we took Carole to the hospital for her next chemotherapy. It was to have been a difficult chemo. and we looked forward to it with great trepidation, as she had had a very difficult week, foollowing her release from the Rehab Center. All week she could hardly walk, talk, or even eat. I wondered if she would be coming home again. When we got there she was so feeble that they decided not to do the chemo, as she could hardly sit up, and instead decided to admit her into the hospital. Jon, Sue, and Jen were there, as they knew Carole was in bad shape, Jon from Chicago, Sue from Africa, and Jen from Okinawa. We spent the entire day there, and we were soon told that Carole would not survive the day. She spent the day gasping for breath, and showing little response to questions or comments. We all held her hand, and spoke to her often.

The night before she had asked me to read to her from the Bible, and I did, so I tried to get her to remember what we had read. Her good friend, Bobbi, and her husband come over and were a big comfort to her, and she recognized them and made faint responses to them. After suppper I sat close to her and asked her if she had a kiss for the people around the bed. As I mentioned each name she formed a kiss to that person. The people that she kissed were those present, including Jon, Erin, Me, Sue, Jennifer, Megan, Jack, Adrienne, and some not present, including Buzzy and Bobbi. There would have been others, but she got too tired. I walked up to the lounge for a minute, but Erin came running and told me Carole could go at any minute. I hurried back and suddenly at 8:25 I looked at Carole and noticed that she was not breathing, I mentioned it to the nurse, and he said, after checking, ” She’s gone.” Although we were all sad and heartbroken, everybody knew that she was suddenly in Heaven, and no longer in pain, and for that we were very thankful. The kids were all convinced that it was a miracle that by way of many strange circumstances, they were all back to see Carole one more time before she died. For that they were all thankful. September was a day of mixed emotions, and one that none of us will ever forget. I would be glad to hear from any of you . Monroe