Welcome to the Lounge

Quote:

I will miss Mom very much. She was a talented artist who painted or drew landscapes and flowers and people in oils, watercolors, pastels, pen and ink, and pencil; she did this almost daily for her entire adult life and truly deserves the title "Artist." She handmade much of her clothing, much of it quite creative. And you can't even tell unless you really inspect that it was handmade. A lot of the clothing was sewed by hand, including a prom dress and clothes for our dolls. She did crafts with us when we were kids, like earrings and handmade Christmas tree ornaments. She opened her own arts and crafts shop in Columbus Ohio; Harry and I sent jewelry to sell there. She struggled for so many years, managing schizophrenia without medication or counseling, a crippled hip, and relentless poverty. Despite being incredibly poor, she saved and scrimped and mended her clothing to save every penny possible. And, amazingly, with her hard work on portraits and tutoring combined with Social Security, she managed to save enough money to pay her way through 6 years in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities, all on her own... and even put away some money for her kids. Her love of us as young children provided the basis that helped make our successes possible. She loved her kids and she did the best she could within her limitations. She tried and tried and tried so hard and time and time again was forgiving of poor treatment. She was alone so much; she didn't get to have a wonderful spouse like some of us. She wanted to publish a book of her artwork; she wanted to sell her paintings; but we never managed to help make that happen much. She even had a commission to do some drawings for a children's book right before going to the hospital; the initial sketches had a child and a little mouse in them. Yes, I will miss Mom and I will always wish I could have done more for her, and could have done a better job. Yes, I know I did a lot ... but I wish I could have done more.

Mom was an incredible person who overcame so much suffering; I'm glad she won't be suffering any more. I'm glad her passing was without pain and without fear.

I love you, Mom.

Quote:

With all the challenges and difficulties dealing with all the issues around Mom's care, it's good to be reminded of the larger picture that was her life. If accomplishments are measured relative to the challenges one is faced with, as they should be, Mom was an amazingly successful person