My mother worked so hard in factories in Kentucky to raise my brother, Dane, and I. She gave us the world. Her body finally broke down after more than 20 years in those factories. She always had time for us and we never doubted her love, even as children we had no idea how hard she worked, how strong she was, and how kind and generous she was to other people who needed help. She never turned a needy soul away. She was also hilarious. I remember her and her close friend Patsy having marathon sessions of Yahtzee’! Eventually swearing up a storm at each other and laughing so hard, they cried. I just sat and watched the hilarity! I think if you could have asked her, she had a mostly a fun and happy life. Her grandchildren adored her. Their names are Ryan, Anna, and Anton. She made the best Jell-o cake every year for our birthdays. She loved to cook and she passed that down to my daughter. She wanted to help others even in death. I wanted her home with me as soon as possible, so I guess we got the best of both. Eventually, but probably not for years, I’m going to take her hiking with me, here in Colorado, and I will set her free on a beautiful glacier lake so she can be surrounded by the beauty she truly deserves. I hope you learned something from my mother and thank you for treating her with respect. A body is just a shell and I know it, but the woman, the soul in it, deserves the utmost respect and to be remembered as a person not just an experiment. Everybody was once their own person who loved, laughed and in my mother’s case, took zero crap from of anyone! A true feminist! Thank God she was my mother.
