Hey everyone, it's me again. Sorry for being so quiet lately, but I have good reason for it. Two weeks ago, my Mother (whom, just for the record, had COPD, leukemia & a heart condition) forgot to turn off her oxygen when she went to smoke a cigarette; causing her nose piece to blow up in her face. Her entire upper lip area under her nose, the nostrils and some of her cheeks suffered some bad burns, and she ended up inhaling some smoke and ash. I immediately called the ambulance, and she was taken to the burn ward up in Indy to recover. She was doing all right for the week after; her burns healing quite nicely & her lungs & wind pipe were beginning to show signs of recovery from the smoke inhalation, but her anxiety issues were proving a problem. She had a tube down her throat to keep the wind pipe open & supplying her with oxygen, and when they tried to remove it, she started to get incredibly stressed and couldn't breathe as a result, so they had to put it back in her.

After the second attempt, they decided that they wanted to try a "Trache" (I THINK that's how you spell it), which is when they cut a slit in your throat and put a tube in there to supply you with oxygen while you heal properly. Mom, however, didn't want her grandchildren seeing her like that, nor did she want to live her life like that, so she decided that the doctors would make a third attempt (the last one they're allowed to attempt medically speaking), and let whatever may happen happen.

We were all up there for it; myself, my dad, my sisters & my brother-in-law. They had her on anti-anxiety meds and pain killers to make her as comfortable as possible while they removed the tube and put her back on her normal oxygen. She was able to breathe on her own for two hours after that...

...at which point, she was just too tired to breathe any more. She passed on; returning peacefully and painlessly into the graces of God.

...My mother was an amazing person; words cannot do her justice. She was born with the amazing ability to sing and dance like no one else that I knew, and was a devout follower of the Christian faith. She was strongly involved in several youth and community organizations; such as the Masons, Eastern Star, DeMolay & Rainbow, and many of the kids she helped look after in some of those organizations see her, even now, as a second mother (or even the mother they never had)! Her "tell-it-like-it-is" attitude and her willingness to tell people to their face that she had a problem with them made her seem a bit coarse and unapproachable at first, but I don't think there was anyone she had ever met, even those she was vocal about her problems with. She meant... MEANS a lot to a lot of people, and now she's gone...

....But I will not cry. I will shed no tears. Mom wouldn't have wanted that. I have to learn how to be strong; as strong as she was. I have to be there for Dad now and get my life in gear. And while mom isn't here anymore, I know she's up in heaven looking down on me and Dad; singing and dancing her heart out as she roots us on.

R.I.P. Mom... I will never forget you...