Sheila Foxhall Smith 4/7/1942-10/22/2006
Jallen Dragonhide
In Mom's final moments... it was as if HER plan unfolded precisely as planned.
Mom started having difficulty in the wee moments during the night (10-21)-- my brother and I stayed in the living room with her all night.
It went on until about 5:00 pm, when the priest duo (Husband and Wife- both which are Episcopalian priests) came in for Holy Communion.
Shortly afterward, Mom stopped suffering, and you could see a calm about her, she was ready but not quite.. until the rest of us came in a few minutes later.
You could then feel that she sensed that we were all there, and it was safe for her to go, and then she did. It was about 5:53 pm on Sunday, October 22, 2006.
She was surrounded by family-- just the way she would have wanted it.
And this picture from my archives:
The environment surrounding the flower shrub is very hostile and apparently does not allow for something as beautiful as this pristine flower bush to bloom--
It doesn't really rain.
The "dirt" is volcanic ash sand.
The sun is fierce- pounding and pounding onto the landscape. As you can see the landscape is barren.
There is no damn good (apparent) reason why there should be pretty flowers. (These weren't planted, they are apparently wild flowers which are scattered across the desert.)
12 years ago, the doctors told us not to expect Mom to live more than a couple weeks or so, when she went in with an advanced case of breast cancer that went untreated.
Never underestimate the strength of the human spirit... nor flower shrub. Screw what the doctors say, screw the landscape- Will will do what Will does.
If you believe, you can do it. Mom has shown us that over and over again in so many ways.
Mom's sister- my Aunt is right. Mom beat cancer. She won 12 years- which allowed her to see me marry my wife, and have our son who is now six, and my brother getting married and have two little girl and boy, and got to see us grow into adults who could help care for our families. She also got to see & get to know my long lost new found sister and finally make peace with the past.
Thank you Mom, you've been such an inspiration to so many of us. Thank you. Godspeed, and don't worry about us, we'll be here carrying on the torch.
x0x.
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