A year in our lives.
One year ago today marked a day that our family suffered the loss of my lovely mother-in-law, Jo. It's been a year of major milestones, sadness, grief, healing, and working through our tears.
While going through the motions of living life each day, it's been a toll on us emotionally. M and his family are still reeling from her death, and they're each taking steps to move through it in the best way they can for themselves. After a year of illness, Jo passed with her loving family by her side. But, that is not how she should be remembered. Jo was not bound by rules. She was a loving and caring mother. She was a strong and supportive wife. She was a sister and a daughter and a mother-in-law. She was hilarious and silly. She was intelligent and well-spoken. She traveled and learned all she could. She delighted in her family, a proud and beaming mother. She was able to love without bounds. She also happened to be a role model for many people, and a best friend to many.
When we found out that Jo had ovarian cancer, it hit us like a ton of bricks. She was scheduled for surgery, and the calls started coming in from all over the country. At that point, I decided to start a website dedicated to document Jo's fight against the disease. It gave people weekly or sometimes daily updates on her condition, her prognosis, her daily routines, without the family having to field dozens of calls each day. I talked about the surgeries, the chemo, everything. I kept it as upbeat as I could, though we knew that things weren't looking good. We didn't want Jo to get phone calls of doom and gloom. M was adamant about her keeping a good and positive outlook through it all. On that site, we had literally thousands of guestbook entries from people all over the country who Jo had touched in some way.
It was during the time of her illness that people came out of the woodwork to say to her what had been in their hearts for years. Unfortunately, we as human beings tend to forget to tell the people in our lives that have touched us so deeply how we feel about them. Never in my life have I heard people so open and honest with their emotions, whether written in a card, or an email, or over a cup of tea in the living room.
Today, the anniversary of her death, I'd like to ask my readers to tell someone who the love and admire just that. As cliché as it sounds, take a moment to call someone, your mother or father, your brother or sister, a friend, a co-worker, or your partner, and tell them that you love them. That you cherish them. That your life is better for their presence in it. Life is too short, and life is too uncertain. I miss Jo. I loved her dearly. I am saddened by the fact that I only had a short time to be with her. But, I am lucky to have with me in my life the people who she helped shape into the wonderful people they are.
Thank you for reading. Now go hug someone.