Mom's Story: Final Note

Well, I said last time that I would post the final note I had written at the end of her story, so here it is. I hope you all have enjoyed reading her story. I know there would have been a lot more to it had she had more time to think about it, and we could have gone over it together. It's one of those things that I mistakenly thought we'd have plenty of time to do.

How ironic, that we put things off till later, knowing full well that there might not be a "later", but somehow we never really think about someone we love not being here anymore. I guess that feeling of loss never really goes away, no matter how many years pass. I remember Mother saying that she still missed her Ma and it was 30+ years since she died.

Donna's and my only joy in this entire situation is knowing that she's in heaven. We know that because she was confident in her standing with Jesus, and said from the get-go that if He was ready for her to come home, then she was ready to go. And we know she was. She was a wonderful example of a Christian - not only in word, but in practice. She lived the Christian life everyday, loving people, showing kindness without partiality. No, she wasn't perfect, none of us are, but she was forgiven and knew where she would live for eternity. Donna and I look forward to seeing both her and Daddy again, and meeting a brother and sister who we've only been told about. What a reunion that will be!!

Here's "The Final Note".

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FINAL NOTE: by Joan (Howard) Babcock

Sunday evening, Sept.10, 2006, after supper, Mom started yelling that she was having chest pains. She had thrown up and was hurting pretty bad. I called the paramedics and they came right away and brought the ambulance. We took her to Mena Hospital where they treated her for a heart attack. They wanted to transport her to Ft. Smith Hospital to see a cardiologist there but had to get the pain stopped and her blood pressure regulated before they did. That finally happened at 7:30 the next morning. Our pastor rode in the ambulance with her and me, and stayed with me all night until she was transported to Ft. Smith.

She didn’t want any open heart surgery or surgery of any kind but did agree to having stints put in if there was a need for that. She had the angioplasty Monday evening and when the doctor came out he said that her three main heart arteries were almost completely blocked. He was able to insert some stints but the surgery really weakened her condition.

Donna and Wil started toward Ft. Smith on Tuesday after there didn’t seem to be any improvement. Bill and I came home to sleep on Tuesday night as I’d been up since Sunday morning and had to get some rest. We got a call about 2:30 AM from the nurse in ICU that her heart rate had dropped and I needed to come up. About 30 minutes before we got there, Mom died on Sept. 13^th. 2006 with the ICU nurse holding her hand. I called Donna to head to Wisconsin, and after calling Twohig’s in Campbellsport, Bill and I headed to the airport.

Mom’s funeral was Saturday, the 16^th, at the First Baptist Church and then after we returned to Oklahoma, where we had a Memorial Service at the Octavia Baptist Church on Sept. 23^rd.

She lived with us for 1 year and 9 months, and left a huge empty spot in our lives. Everyone that knew her loved her. She had friends everywhere. I know she is enjoying all the reunions in heaven but we sure do miss her here.

Signed,

Joan Babcock