Stella's Story

Saturday 3/19/05:
At 5 a.m. this morning, my Mom broke the chains that bound her to this sweet earth, waived 'good-bye' to Alzheimer's and made her way up to her new home in Heaven. Good-bye, sweet Lady. My world will be a much sadder place without you!
Dear sweet Claudia sent this beautiful Alzheimer Awareness gift that Melody made. Our hearts swell with gratitude for your kind gesture. You will always have a very special place in my heart.

Prologue
Mom was a kind, sweet, gutsy little lady who fought every battle that life threw at her with courage & dignity. Little did she expect that this demon called Alzheimers would bring her to her knees & rob her of the courage & dignity she treasured so dearly. But it did . . . and it has . . . and so it goes.

6/5/04: President Ronald Reagan died today!  He was diagnosed with Alzheimers in 1994, the same year as Mom was and they were both born in 1911. May He Rest in Peace.

Mom - 1997 at the ranch
in Clermont, Florida

A message to my Mom:

Dear Mom,
You are & always have been "the wind beneath my wings".   You taught me the basic values of kindness & respect as well as a love of beauty, education & the rewards of hard work.   You taught me to be responsible for my own actions & happiness.   You were a "liberated woman" long before the rest of the world heard about Women's Rights. No "role playing" in our household. Daddy did the dishes & you climbed the ladders to paint the house. In that respect, you truly were unique! Thanks for being you!
Margie

So. . . . . here's Stella's Story !

Highlights

YOU were born on May 31, l911, the 7th child of Polish immigrants who lived on 81st Street on Cleveland's southeast side.

YOU graduated from the 8th grade at St. Stanislaus School as valedictorian of your class & were awarded a string of pearls which you still treasure.

YOU married Mike on June l5, l934. Together you loved & nurtured

2 daughters, Carol & Margie who made you the grandparents of

5 grandchildren: Rick, Andy, Matt, Sue & Chris

and the great-grandparents of 10 great-grandchildren: Amanda, Tiffany, Sierra, Jackie, Kelly, Katie, Matthew, Lizzie, Erica, and Christopher.

YOU worked outside the home your entire adult life. During WWII, you ran a punch press at Bessemer Forge while Daddy ran the forge hammer. Do you remember our "victory" garden? You also worked at places like Richman Brothers, the old May Co. & then at Sears where you were a buyer & department manager. YOU retired from Sears in l976. YOU loved your days at Sears & still talk about them affectionately.

Doesn't look like much when you put it all in a list, does it? Not until you realize that YOU are a member of that select group of seniors that has "lived through it all".  From the horse & buggy days of the 1900's to the space age & now into the new millenium.

Even though YOU don't talk much anymore, I suspect that if you were asked what you thought about your life you would humbly but confidently say that you were proud of your life accomplishments. And isn't that all that really matters? What could be more glorious than a sense of satisfaction for a job well done and a life well lived?

Thankfully, YOU have passed the stage of painful awareness of your deficits & accept yourself as you are today. You have a smile and a soft touch for everyone. Your pleasant personality is still the same as it's always been. We are so grateful for that!

Epilogue:
Mom lived in Cleveland her entire life.    In l996, when I retired from nursing at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, we moved south to Clermont, Florida.    She lived with me at South Fork Ranch until May of l999 when she moved to Oak Park Assisted Living Facility in Clermont. They provide her with the socialization & activities that a rural environment couldn't provide. She seems happy & content in her new home for which I am grateful.

Pictures of Mom at Oak Park Assisted Living Facility
Click HERE to see them.

You are listening to:
"Wind beneath my wings" by Beth Middler!