Darlene
On
Tuesday, April 10th,
2018 I went to see my mom twice that day, in the morning and again to
see her that evening.
My
mom, Darlene, passed away that evening at 8:15pm.
Gathered
around her were her two girls; myself, Joni Lee and my sister,
Jennifer Lynn, our mom's sister, Tammy and our mom's husband, Lea.
Our
mom lived a grand life. She had a great job and a loving family. One
of my special memories of mom and me took place in November in 2015. It
was just Mom and me for two weeks. Well, Mom and I took a tour
bus filled with other country music lovers. We went on a bus tour to
Nashville. We had a grand two weeks. I will always treasure that time
with her.
When
our mom went to Alberta to see my sister Jennifer and her family she
started having some pain. Jennifer, being a nurse, told Mom to go for
a test at the hospital. Mom was tested and it was pancreatic cancer.
The doctors at the hospital in Alberta did surgery and mom got
better.
But
then in January 2018 the cancer came back. She was at home for a
while but eventually went to the Summerside Hospital.
On
Tuesday evening when our mom passed away I was there and I'm glad I
was. Lea, her husband took it hard. He said she was too young.
I
called Catherine from the hospital and told her and when I got to my
apartment I told Suzanne that my mom passed away. Catherine and Jim
came to my apartment. I told them that I wasn't going in to work on
Thursday morning. They said that was fine and that I just needed to
do what I needed to do to take care of me.
I'm
going to miss my mom a lot but I have lots of family and friends
around me and I know they will come when I need them.
I
would like to thank everyone for their support and prayers for my mom
and our family and for the PCC Day Program for helping me go through
my loss. I have lots of friends by my side and that was a comfort to
my mom.
I
have always loved the song by Brett Kissel, “I Didn't Fall in Love
With Your Hair.” He wrote that song for his Mom when his mom had
cancer and whenever I hear this song I think of my mom and how much
love she needed when she was going through all she had to go through.
Today
I was helping Catherine in the kitchen and I asked her, “Do you
know how I'm getting through this? It's my music.”
Mom,
I will keep on singing.
Joni Lee Miner
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| My Mom, Darlene and I |
