My mother who never wanted to leave me here all alone,
though she lost the battle of aged body, her spirt soars
and has never left my heart or home. I love you mom.
My mother was born on September 17, 1920 in Alpena, Michigan. One of six children, with two sisters, Magdaline and Mildred and three brothers; Ralph, Clayton, and Richard all having passed away at this time. Her mother was Josephine and father, Herman Powell, both moving to California, following their children as Jane followed her sister, Magdaline who moved to Los Angeles, Ca. before her.
When Jane arrived in Los Angeles on December 7, 1941 (the night of the attack on Pearl Harbor) she recalls the lights in Los Angeles being extinguished as the entire city was dark.
She recalls always working in garment factories throughout her life. With her sisters as well, being affiliated with the industry, they all made a home in Los Angeles and quickly obtained their respective occupations.
While on a night out on the town with 'the girls'. She met my father at a dance being held at The Palladium in Los Angeles, California, fell in love, got married, had a difficult first year (she would say) but quickly settled into a very loving, successful marriage which lasted fifty-seven years until my father's passing, March 30, 2005.
Their souls now reunited in heaven with God's grace.
Prior Health History
My relationship with my mother was extremely close. Both parents lived with me for the past seven years for care. I fed her, clothed her, bathed her and took her everywhere with me. Since 1978 I took it upon myself gratefully to be responsible for my mother's health. That is 30 years of making sure the doctors were doing their very best in judgment and course of action while making and driving her to doctor appointments in later years and investigating each medication she was given.
My mother had many medical emergencies and hurdles to overcome over the years as is listed below and I was always there for her, holding her hand through it all and caring.
I loved her more than life itself and would have changed places with her in an instant on any occassion. Although realizing that life at times is survived, I also made every effort to make sure it was lived... by her, happily and feeling loved.
One of the most difficult challenges during the last few weeks of her life was to reconcile the fact that I was losing my mother which only took place two days prior to her passing. I always had hope but when the hope seemed obscure and I realized that I couldn't get her through this other than to relieve the pain, keep her dressings changed and make her as comfortable as possible... it never felt like enough. We fought so many health battles over our lifetime and always succeeded together, it seemed this one we couldn't. I have a hard time letting go. The pain was incomprehensible as alone I was dealing with it all until a buddy of mine showed up on the last day and remained with me the following two days. I will never forget the kindness he displayed. I felt that I was losing my mind in pain and will appreciate his support for the rest of my life.
-- 1949 Bowel surgery for an obstruction, removed approximately four feet of bowel.
-- 1949 Appendicts removed.
-- 1949 Removed one fallopian tube, reason unclear and unknown.
-- 1978 Suffered a massive heart attack revealed when one main artery was blocked as well as two others with partial blockage. Within two months loss of complete body hair possibly due to over medication or shock but never determined. This is where my care took over. The doctor's gave her no more than five years to live at this time. They were wrong as God blessed us with thirty.
-- 1979 Second bowel surgery due to bowel obstruction or diverticulitus.
-- 1985 Heart annurism found and being watched extremely closely.
-- 1996 Lost balance and fell off a four foot ledge on to the sidewalk injuring her tailbone and right wrist. No broken bones per X-rays, just a bad sprain. In much pain and fainted twice before taken for X-rays. What was strange is I was living in Los Angeles on the day of this accident and felt a major pain in my lower back the day of this accident, finding out about it later that evening.
-- 1987 Second open heart surgery performed, artery bypass graft surgery. Blockage alleviated, annurism left untouched due to the delicacy of the procedure.
-- 1989 Gall Bladder removed.
-- 1989 Hodgkins tumor found attached to spine. Biopsy taken and removed tumor surgically.
-- 1990 Hodgkins treated with chemotherapy successfully.
-- 1991 T1 NO MO tumor found left lower lobe of lung, 3.5 cm. In size. Removed surgically and found to be benign.
-- 2003 Fractured left leg ‘femor’. Prosthetic surgery performed. Half hip replacement. Almost lost in surgery.
-- 2003 Breast Cancer. Lump which appeared in the left breast, years prior was diagnosed to be a less common form of malignant cancer known as infiltrating Pleomorphic Lobular Carcinoma. Complete masectomy of left breast performed successfully.
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Our Last Days Together
With me by her side, holding her hand, kissing her face and giving her permission to go with God with all the love I have inside me, my mother was released without pain. She has always been the most important person in my life or more accurately, my mother was my life. My purpose was to care for her and bring her as much joy and good health as possible. Although I feel lost at times and miss her beyond measure, I know she is with God and without pain and therefore know I will see her again, even feeling her presence with me as I write this. The experience, painful as it was, we shared together and I never want to forget one second spent with her on earth.
