Monday, February 13, 2012

No More Pity Party for Susie

Posted by Sue's daughter, Katie

On Friday February 10, 2012, at 1 pm, my mom lost her two year battle with lung cancer. When she was given her terminal diagnosis in September 2011, we were told she only had a few weeks left but she fought so hard that most people were shocked to hear she was so sick. On Monday February 6, 2012, she took a turn for the worse and thankfully all my siblings were able to be here for her last week.
We spent our days and nights in my mom's bedroom with her, watching home videos, eating in bed, singing, telling stories, and also spending one on one time with my mom. Her last moments were very peaceful and she was surrounded by all her kids and some of her siblings. Just a few hours before she passed, Lauren played the guitar while we all sang (off key and slightly teary). Lauren sang Heaven by Moonpools and Caterpillars after my dad passed away and she sang and played it again for my mom on Friday morning. It really was a beautiful morning. I don't think my mom could have asked for a better send off.


Iowa Hospice provided her hospice care and they were such an amazing group of people. Her nurse, her CNA, the chaplains, the massage therapist, the music therapist, her doctor, the social worker, the on call nurses-every single one of them loved mom and helped my mom through the hardest journey of her life. When hospice arrived after her death, there was not a dry eye in the house. My mom was not just a patient to them-she was a mother, friend, and fighter. We were blessed to have found such a compassionate organization to take care of our mom and to support our family through all of this.
We are all hanging in there and thankfully we have each other, our close friends, my mom's friends, and my mom's nine siblings. Even though she is gone, we feel her presence so strongly in the love and support we have received from everyone. I know she is up there with my dad looking down on us now. To look at this horrible situation as a positive one, my siblings and I now have two guardian angels who will guide us and keep us safe.

Thank you to everyone for all your kind words, thoughts, and prayers over these last few months and especially over these next few weeks while we grieve our tremendous loss. We are having a small private service on Saturday 2/18 and we plan to celebrate her life with her closest friends and family. In lieu of flowers, please send memorial contributions directly to the family. Information can be found at www.hamiltonsfuneralhome.com


Thank you all for your love, support, and comments over the last two years. My mom was a blessed woman.

Love,
Katie

3 comments:

  1. My deepest sympathy goes out to your Family. Your mother was an absolutely beautiful women and will always have a special place in my heart.

    We had many great times which I will always cherish. No one but your mother and I will ever know the great times we had. I hope your family will find peace and comfort in knowing she is with your dad again, her one and only true love!!

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  2. Your mother was a member of our book club, so I had just recently been acquainted with her. She was a delightful lady who loved her family so very much. God bless all of you as you go thru this journey. Yes, she will be smiling down on you!

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  3. To All the Standley Clan,

    I wrote an earlier comment but did not see it come up on this website so I offer a second note. I had the pleasure of knowing your good mother in grammar school at Sacred Heart. She was a truly beautiful young lady in so many ways, a bundle of energy matched with the greatest joy. And truth be told, she was the fastest kid in the class in a foot race.

    And in those early days she was no stranger to intense family suffering with a mother dying of Hodgskins Disease. Even in those days your grandmother hosted some of the greatest of boy/girl parties in the family basement. I am sorry you did not know your grandmother. She was a very religious woman, with a great faith, very close to my mother.

    I met up with your mother again many years later for our thirty-fifth 8th grade reunion. Again, the suffering the loss of a loved one, her husband John. She absolutely adored him. As he held her on the highest of pedastals. She wondered why God would take her great love from her while there were so many other women who probably would not mind the departure of their Prince Charmings. It was a hard loss and lasted a very long time.

    In her return to Iowa she sought only the best for all of you children. I remember how excited she was when the youngest, daughter, was receiving her First Holy Communion. She wrote to me and had all the excitement of our grammar school days. Words can not express her love for all of you.

    I am so sorry I missed your blog these past few years otherwise I would have been down to see her and all of you.

    I informed all our classmates of her death and did offer a memorial/funeral Mass for her. Just me and the angels.

    God bless each of you in this tragic loss. Please let me know where you will place her that I may visit on my next trip home from my priestly assignment in Warrenton, Virginia. And please be assured of my prayers for each of you. Do not hesitate to call if you ever need anything.

    Yours in Christ,

    Fr. James R. Gould
    St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church
    271 Warrenton, VA 20186

    frgould@yahoo.com
    703-626-8113

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