beyond cinderella

It is with a heavy heart that I’m sharing with you that my mother, Virginia Vezie, passed away Thursday, March 10th, at 9:10 P.M after a long illness. She was surrounded by her immediate family members in the last days of her life. My brother, Danny, his wife Bea, My husband Bill and I, our daughter Katie Decker, and other family members took turns sitting with her.

On the night she passed, I decided I would spend the night with her at the care center. My daughter, Katie Decker, had been there that afternoon, and Danny, Bea, Bill, and I were there together until 9:00 P.M. when Danny, Bea, and Bill said their goodbyes to mom and left to go home. I was prepared to stay the night with her and was sitting beside her bed holding her hand and trying to make sure she was comfortable. She had been getting morphine every two hours throughout the day, and as the evening progressed, she struggled more and more to breathe so the nurse told me she could have morphine every hour if we wanted her to have it. Mom had been given morphine at 7:30 P.M. and was showing no signs of it easing her breathing so I asked the nurse to give her another dose at 8:30. About twenty minutes later mom’s breathing became less labored and we thought she would be more comfortable through the night so that was when Danny, Bea, and Bill left at 9:00 P.M.

After my family left and I was sitting with my mother, I told my mother that Dad was waiting for her “just beyond the moon” like he always told her he would be if he died before she did, and that my brothers, Tommy and Stephen were waiting for her too. I asked her to let go and go to the light and find Jesus and at the same time, I was praying to Jesus, and the Blessed Mother to please just come and get mom and take her home with them. Finally, at 9:10 P.M. mom opened her eyes (she had not opened her eyes all day) looked up, made a little sound like she was gagging, let out her breath and was gone.

Mom is at peace now after a long, hard journey, and I’m happy she didn’t have to linger any longer than she did. She will be buried on Wednesday, March 16th, at 11:00 A.M. in a simple Catholic graveside service at St. Francis Catholic Cemetery, in the same grave my father, her husband of 57 years, is buried in.

When my father was alive he showered my mother in gold and diamonds, all of which she gave to various family members as her health declined. This gold cross and her wedding ring is all she had of her gold/diamonds at the time of her death and I brought them home with me after she passed.

During the six years my mother lived in the care center, she bought cheep plastic costume jewelery and seemed to treasure them as much as she ever did her gold and diamonds. The next few pictures are examples of what I found in my mother’s little treasure box she kept in her night stand.

She also had her eye glasses and two watches.

She had the little shamrock neckless her sister Ellen sent her for St. Patrick’s day last year, and her plastic rosary the visiting Catholic service people gave her after someone stole her metal rosary my father bought her from Ireland.

She loved this cheep plastic cross she bought at the craft store the care center sponsored from time to time.

And she kept all her treasures in the silver tone metal box she got cookies in one year. She loved this box. I have all her little treasures in it and it now sits on my bedside shelf.

Our daughter, Katie Decker, wanted to buy the outfit mom will be buried in. She picked out this lovely outfit for mom and I delivered it to the mortuary yesterday when we went to make the arrangements for mom. Thank you Katie Decker.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all our family, extended family, and friends who have loved, visited, and supported my mother, and our family, as we helped her through her end of life process.

REST IN PEACE MOM.