Dedicated to the Memory of Mom

This is dedicated to my mom, who died of cervical cancer in January of 1998 The cancer was discovered too late to save her life. My older sister noticed that mom had lost a lot of weight, and urged her to see a doctor. Mom made an appointment, and found out that she had cervical cancer. She started chemo and radiation therapy, but the cancer spread too far. She was admitted to a hospice where she soon died. She went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for treatment, before hospice, and took morphine to control her pain. Just recently (April 1, 2013), my older brother died of bone cancer. He was only 59 years old. It was so sad to see him go. The bone cancer couldn't be cured, it was too late for the doctors to save his life. His funeral was last Thursday. He was the second to last born of our mom's five kids. Hopefully, he is up there in Heaven with her. He will always be missed and never forgotten. RIP, James Lee S.

Mom lived in a little mid-western town. She had one sister and two brothers. Her family lived in a small farming community in the state of Iowa with a population of less than a thousand. Her mother was a homemaker and housewife and her father drove a school bus, had a blacksmith shop, and was a town sheriff for two years. The town had two grocery stores, a meat locker, a bank,a funeral home, and a few other businesses.

Mom was a Catholic and she went to a catholic school where she graduated. She played on the basketball team. She dated young fellows from around the community until she found the one she married. She married a young fellow from a neighboring community. They had five children together, before they divorced. He left for California with another woman, whom he had known in Minnesota. He had worked in Minneapolis, and came home on the weekends. He wouldn't pay child support, so he went to jail for a while. He moved to Vegas, so he wouldn't be put in jail for not paying child support. When he lived in Vegas, he had a good job working at the "Nevada Test Site." He still wouldn't pay child support even though he had a good job.

Mom and her family lived in the small town until 1968, unil the family decided to move to a bigger town where there were more jobs. Mom found a job at a hospital as a housekeeper. She met a man and married him. The family moved to another town, where his family lived. The marriage didn't work and she filed for divorce. She had other fellows and was a companion to a plumber. He left and married someone. She lived in her home (divorced), and never had anymore boyfriends. She still had men friends, particularly one who liked to come over to visit. He was a semi-truck driver, and had been friends with mom for many years. He was a nice guy. He loved to talk about his semi and his milk-truck that he drove sometimes to make extra money.

Mom loved to go out for lunch or dinner in nice restaurants. She loved good food. She was a good cook, loved to cook, and loved to bake pies. She loved baking bread and cinnamon rolls. She made fudge, which was tasty. She made divinity, fudge, and pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She was a great pie maker. Mom always made the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners every year, as long as she felt good.She loved antiques, flowers, bingo, casinos, traveling, rummage sales and shopping. She loved "Bingo." She loved Vegas, where she visited several times. She and I visited West Germany to visit her older daughter, and my older sister and her family. My sister's husband, (now ex), was stationed at Frankfurt, West Germany. Mom and I stayed with the sister at Steinbach. We stayed with the sister for three weeks, before going back home. During the visit to West Germany, we saw Heidelberg, and Dachau. We saw the camp at Dachau, where many innocent people died. Mom visited other places like the Bahamas, and London. She had a male friend, who loved to travel. She went to the Bahamas, and England with him while they were together. She and her companion went to London, and they took a trip over to France on a Hovercraft. Mom told her friends and family that the ride on the Hovercraft was rough and bumpy going over the water. She had a good time. Mom and her companion took trips to Vegas, where she loved to gamble on the slot machines. Mom was a real go-getter!

Mom adopted a little, white dog named: Sweet-Tart Skipper, but everyone called the dog: Skippy. Skippy was a male "White West Highland Terrier." Skippy bonded with her, and loved her the most. Skippy was mom's dog and companion. Skippy was a gentle dog. He had big brown eyes and a black nose. He was shy at first, but grew out of it. Skippy was a great dog. Mom had grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mom worked as a nurse's aide, a waitress, and worked in a deli in grocery store during her lifetime. She was kind to other people and had good friends. Mom wasn't a "stick in the mud." She loved to do things like going places, having a good time, and enjoyed dining out. Mom was an avid to reader. Her favorite books were romance novels. She loved watching television shows and movies. She loved to watch, "The Wizard of Oz" all the way through to the end to see that Dorothy makes it home okay. She loved game shows, "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy." She even watched, "Beavis & Butt-Head." She loved to buy Lottery Tickets. She won sometimes, and that made her happy. She didn't have lots of money, and she didn't like being broke.

Mom passed away more than ten years ago. She has been gone for fifteen years this year(2013). Last April would have been her 84th birthday. Its hard to believe that the years go by so quickly. The memory of mom will never be forgotten. Mom loved pets. She loved her dog Skippy, but, also, loved cats. We had cats while growing up in the home. Some names of the cats' were: Buttercup, Martha (with three kittens}, Petey (a male, yellow-striped cat), and others.