One Year Later

Today marks a year since my Grandmother, Mable Jackson, passed away. Even as time passes, I clearly picture her in my mind and miss her. It seems I have a ton of pictures of both her and my Grandfather on their sailboat. However, I really like this picture as it shows my Grandmother was a good multi-tasker. She's not only steering the boat but fishing as well.

In Memory of Beverly Bellile

It is almost a year ago when I saw my Aunt Kathy's Mom, Beverly, at my Grandparents memorial. My Grandmother passed away on August 25th last year. Well this August is another heartbreaker for my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Tom. Beverly certainly was part of our family and she will be remembered and missed. She was a beautiful woman. Whenever I saw her, she was stylish and looked far younger than she was. A classy lady. Her daughters are certainly fortunate to have inherited her good look gene (see picture of Kathy in my previous blog).

The picture is from a Cancer walk that Beverly and my Grandmother did together ( I scanned this picture in and therefore the numbers they are wearing are backwards). Below the picture is an excerpt from my Uncle Tom's e-mail of this morning.

With loss comes appreciation for the friends and family we have. We should all take the time to appreciate each day as if it were a new adventure.
Love to all,
E



Letter from Uncle Tom

All,

Kathy's mom died around 6:30 am this morning. She was 68. As you may remember, her mom had been battling breast cancer for over 6 years. This spring it had spread to her brain. Kathy has been fortunate to not have to work so she could spend a lot of time with her mom this spring and summer. She flew down two weeks ago last Friday and her mom picked her up at the airport. By that evening the tumors had affected her frontal lobes and she lost her ability to vocalize in any coherent way.

I think Kathy is fortunate that the progression happened so quickly after that. Kathy was able to bring her home from the hospital and cared for her around the clock at her mom's home. I know she is very tired but feels blessed to have had the opportunity for her mother to pass on in her own house attended by her daughter instead of an impersonal institution. Hospice was of a great help.

I drove down and brought Kathy supplies last Friday and just returned late last night. When I arrived in Michigan, Beverly (mom) was clearly drifting in and out of the borderline of reality, but she made eye contact with me and nodded to acknowledge she recognized me. Kathy called this morning. We had an air bed I'd slept on when I was living in the River House in Milwaukee last year while Kathy (and our furniture) was still in Eden Prairie. Kathy slept on that on the floor by her mom's hospital-style bed at the end. She gave her the medication at 5:00 and fell asleep. At 6:30 she woke up because she didn't hear her mother's labored breathing. Her mom was still warm when she checked her pulse.

Beverly was in a lot of pain from the brain tumors and it is a good thing she passed quickly. She pressed hard right to the end, coming for a week to Milwaukee this summer and going to Charleston, SC to visit her best friend in July, plus working still until three weeks ago.

The funeral is at Sawyer Fuller, 2525 12 Mile Rd, Berkley, MI, 48072 this Wednesday. Her mom went to Berkley high school and Kathy's dad and grandparents are buried there.

Health and prosperity to you all,

Tom

I'm Just A Tad Behind...

I'm usually a little more on top of the blog updates, however, I've been a blog slacker for the past few months. These pictures are from the 4th of July when I took the ferry across Lake Michigan to visit my Uncle Tom and Aunt Kathy with my parents. They recently relocated to Milwaukee and found these really cool townhomes right on the Milwaukee River. They have a really nice patio overlooking the river and city. We could see fireworks from 3 different parts of the city on the 4th of July.

Being the great hosts that they were, they made sure for that even though we were there for a short period of time we got in some good city touring walking.

My assessment of Milwaukee is that it still has small city feel but is growing with character. I love to see interesting old warehouses being revamped into cool living spaces. This is what is happening along the river and soon the River Walk will be bustling with residents and activityr. The Milwaukee Rowing Club is about 500 meters from my Aunt and Uncle's townhome. Rest assured, I'll make sure I get in a row the next time I visit!


Cool sculpture on a walking tour. My parents, Aunt Kathy and Uncle Tom.



These are the townhomes. The empty lot is for the next set of riverside townhomes.