As a child I watched my mother struggle as a divorced mom with two children. But no matter how rough the road, she always made our life seem flawless. Never losing her faith, her laughter and her love. Even working three jobs to make ends meet, she always had time for my brother and me.
As a young woman I moved to Alaska. My mother loved Alaska and visited as often as she could. In her 60s, she decided to retire and move to Alaska to be closer to me. Once she was settled in Alaska, she began working as a waitress which led to a new career in baking. Even with no formal training, she learned to make restaurant quality cheesecakes, cakes, pies and muffins.
Years later my husband, my mom and I relocated to Vancouver. One year to the day after our arrival, she suffered a major stroke, leaving her paralyzed on the left side of her body. Devastating as this was, she
accepted the challenges ahead with determination and spirit to prove the doctors wrong, that she would indeed walk again, that she would indeed use her left hand/arm again to continue her hobbies of cooking, baking and gardening. And that she did! After several years of both in-home outpatient physical therapy, I’ll never forget the first time she walked into her doctor’s office, her head held high, back straight and proud, not missing a step. Her progress continued for 13 more years until God needed an angel in his garden.
