Remembering Grandma Cheris

Heaven gained another angel yesterday as Grandma Cheris received "her wings" as the hospice nurse said. It was a long, tough road to the end for Cheris, but even as her dementia took over she still always seemed to make us laugh with her quirky sense of humor :) After numerous health issues over many months, she transitioned over to hospice care last week and finally passed away comfortably yesterday. I was glad Joe and I got to say good bye to her last Sunday afternoon, but I will choose to remember her not like I saw her on Sunday. I will remember her like this:

Here is a picture of her meeting Ryder for the first time in the hospital.

Here is Grandma Cheris with us at Ryder's Baptism

And here is Grandma Cheris enjoying herself last October on her 85th birthday.

You know, because of my work I see people pass away all the time as death is part of the job. But you can't make it personal at work otherwise you would never be able to do your job. Because of this (and the fact that I have been fortunate enough to not have had to deal with death in my own family yet), I had gone into Sunday thinking I would be strong/not cry when I saw Cheris. But when I saw Cheris on Sunday, I was shocked at how fast she changed and how sad it was. I started to think about how she was at the moment compared to how I remembered her being. And what really got me was thinking that she is Paul's mom, and Joe's grandma and it made me think of how hard it must be for them. Needless to say, it was much harder to see her like that than I originally thought. But again, I think the most important thing Joe and I talked about is that you have to remember is that she lived a long life and she's in a better place now. We will remember the good times and not the bad. Rest in peace, Grandma Cheris!