1. centertopIn Memory of Grandmom Rochelle<br />~<br />A lot of us know how funny, kind, and charismatic Grandmom Rochelle was. Some have heard of her, some have met her, some are close family members of her. Some time ago, Grandmom Rochelle developed terminal ovarian cancer. She always stayed strong during tough times. May 28th was her birthday. Her 3 sons (my dad and his two brothers, Uncle Alan, and Uncle Steve), her sister, Aunt Millie, her sister's daughter, Nancy, her other son's wife and his child, and other family members all sung Happy Birthday to her. Aunt Marie (Uncle Steve’s wife) brought a very beautiful half chocolate/half vanilla cake with chocolate icing and beautiful multicolored roses on all sides and corders with white letters saying, quot;
Happy Birthday Rochelle!quot;
to the hospital. She cracked a smile, which was the best thing we could see. A couple nights later, she could not speak at all, only make slight sounds that were supposed to be words. She was very frail, the cancer was taking its toll on her. I've visited her room in the hospital every single day for the past 4 or 5 days during that week. Some days were better than others for her, she still stuck strong through hard times.It was literally heart-wrenching to see her like this, but I kept a smile on my face for her. I had told her a story about what I did that day. She smiled at a few parts. Someone who has a bunch of IVs hooked up, who can’t stand up, who can’t even talk. Someone who can’t move much, someone who’s stuck in a hospital with terminal cancer, smiled. If someone you’ve loved hasn’t experienced grave illness or death, you don’t know what it’s like. People take life for granted sometimes, perhaps unintentionally. Life is precious, experience every minute of it with people you love. Someday I'll be really old and my parents might only have a few days to live. Experiencing things like this really make you reconsider life. I had said, “Tomorrow may be the last time I ever see my grandmother. I want to spend as much time as possible with her.” I'll always remember the good times, the Thanksgivings with her special mashed potatoes and delicious turkey that I always loved to eat, the birthday I gave her a Siamese cat figurine with a mini-mat beneath it, the day we went to Clyde's last Mother's Day (even though the food wasn't that great, it was so very special to spend it with her.), the time she got be a Black Friesian Webkinz when it had just come out while I was visiting her... so many wonderful memories of my grandmother that I'll always cherish and remember. When the decision of Hospice was finalized, I was very sad. I didn’t want my grandmother to die, but I understood that she would die either way at some point, and I wanted the best for her, not for me. I would rather her die sooner, and in no pain, than die later, in pain. When I met the Hospice nurses, they were very kind. I’d like to thank them for helping my grandmom and other patients like her in similar situations. I’d also like to say to the awesome nurses that Grandmom Rochelle really really loved you being there. You were very kind to her, and she very much appreciated it. Thank you Vivian and Mavis! I’d also like to thank Uncle Steve and Uncle Alan for being there for their mom, my grandmother. And I’d like to thank my dad, the best dad in the world, for staying with his mom during the hard times, and for staying with me when I needed someone to talk to, and for reading this to all of you. I would also like to thank Aunt Marie for buying the biggest cake in the world for Grandmom Rochelle. Even though she couldn’t eat it, I bet she loved it all the same. And thank you, Granddad Tom, for being there for her when she asked for you. Grandmom Rochelle felt honoured when everyone came to visit her. She felt loved, protected, and safe down to her last breath. She was surrounded by family to the very end. There is no better gift than family. <br />