MY MOM

My mom, Louise

This multi-talented private lady passed away January 7th, 5 days before her 87th birthday. 
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This lady could crochet, quilt, knit, sew, cross-stitch along with many other handicrafts.  When her hands became arthritic she became focused on computing.  She so liked to "file", she had files on fonts.  She had files on icons and jokes and cartoons.  She typed up all the recipes she'd ever cut out from magazines along with all craft ideas.  She indexed and sorted them this way and that.  She was Google before Google existed.

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She felt she needed to jump from Windows XP to Windows 8.1.  That was a frustrating task.  She never could figure out the Windows concept of Libraries (not sure I do either).  But she kept on and was the first person in the family to adopt Windows 10.  She spent a lot of time telling me that Bill Gates was out to get her.  And she never understood that she shouldn't use the Windows names as her folder names nor could she ever find out really where her files were located thanks to the libraries. 

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Mom wanted to live on her own for as long as possible and she did.  For the last 6 years she has had helpers come in to provide shopping, laundry, housekeeping, and importantly companionship.  Her latest helper, Chelsey, can be commended as an angel.  She watched my mom struggle with her memory and made fun games to keep her focused.  When mom managed to delete all her Windows source files, Chelsey, an Apple person, worked with Windows techs to get the computer up and running again. 

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Mom had a stroke the end of October followed with a few more towards her end.  For 6 weeks, she worked to be independent again but her dementia kept her from being able to focus on the task.  During rehab Chelsey was at her side urging her on.  When mom was calm and with it mentally, she flirted, joked, and batted those beautiful blue eyes.  The time in a skilled nursing facility shook this private person to the core.  She did not want to live this way any longer.  In the end, Hospice came aboard and helped her relax and not be in pain. 
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I am missing her.  Missing all the jokes and news we shared nightly.  Missing her sense of humor.  
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We will scatter her ashes at Kalaloch where we scattered her best friend Al's ashes.  

Laurie