Goodbye to another wonderful lady...

Tucson
This is getting to be a regular "thing" for us lately, and I, for one, would appreciate it if it would stop.  But then again, we are at the age where our friends and relatives of our generation are dying. 

Last night we said goodbye to another wonderful lady.  Shirley Spaid...rest in peace.  Shirley was my cousin Ted's wife.  Shirley, Ted, Al and I have been close in the past 20+ years, traveling together; visiting each other (they live in Colorado) and keeping in touch.  They traveled with us to Alaska in 2003, with the long, long trailer in tow.  Six weeks of "togetherness" in the 5th wheel...and yet we remained close!  Shirley and I had a special bond I felt.  She was so wonderfully talented with her knitting, crocheting, and sewing.   She liked to try new recipes; was fun loving and and so much fun to be with.  Ted said that sometimes you had to "speak Shirley" to understand her, I must have succeeded,. because I never had a problem understanding her. :-)  She was a wonderful mother, sister, grandmother and friend. 

Shirley had a massive stroke on Saturday, March 10.  She went to sleep Friday night and just never woke up.  No suffering, no pain, just went to sleep.  She did it the right way.  They removed life support on Wednesday and she took her final breath last night.  We grieve her death, but rejoice in the fact that she is at peace.  We grieve with her family, but rejoice in the knowledge that they will go on to a new and different life without her, but hold her in their hearts forever and have wonderful memories.  She has left them behind, but new children will come and hear the stories of their great grandmother and what a wonderful woman she was.  Yes, she will be missed greatly, but she lives on in our hearts and memories.  It is sad that she will never get to hold her first great grandchild, which is due in June. 

On another note, our weather has been wonderful the last week...today it is suppose to be 85!  Wait, this is March, right?  Well tomorrow it is suppose to be only 58....I think the got the numbers transposed!  We are going to have a "cool down" as the weather guesser calls it.  I think so...from 85 to 58...I would call that a cool down!  However, I am not complaining, before to long the only "cool down" we will get will be sitting under our air conditioners!

Al continues to do the same.  He has good days and awful days, nothing in-between.  Today we are going on an outing.  He has  been wanting sushi, and has asked several times to go to the "sushi garden" which advertises a lot on TV.  It also has been our favorite sushi place for many years, however, he has forgotten that.  So today we are going to attempt an "outing". 

Until next time, enjoy life, it is the only one you get.