“‘Bye, Mom, see you later”!

I’ve said that thousands of times.  Whenever I left my mom, or before I  hung up the phone.  It was just a given, that we would see each other again.

My mom passed away this week.  She was a sweet little old lady of 86.  In the last few years her memory faded and she confused dates and places and sometimes got all of us mixed up but she knew our names and birthdays and sometimes would surprise us with a recollection of something we’d thought she couldn’t possibly remember.  She outlived most of her closest friends and family members and I know that made her very sad at times.

She loved her extended family of in-laws, great nieces nephews and cousins and second cousins and never saw her life as lacking.  She thought everyone was good, even if they were flawed, as long as they were nice to her.  She never judged or envied or wished for more than she had.  She was grateful for what she did have.

She thought every baby was the most beautiful baby in the world, every child the cutest and smartest.  She loved clothes shopping and bus trips to casinos.  She was a great bowler and a wonderful friend.  She doted on her grandchildren and  proudly recited their accomplishments to anyone that would listen, until her first great-grandson arrived and took center stage of every conversation.  Her highest ambition was always to be a wife and mother--a job that she excelled at. 

Her exit from life was not the way we hoped it would be, but it was fast and painless and and we were able to be there with her till she left us.

“Bye, Mom,  we’ll see you later!”

Marion Ford Crowley

1926 to 2013