New Year's Revelation

Over the break, my Mom was fond of telling this little story:

A few days before I got home, one of my mother’s aunts (which we would still call ma tante) passed away. For as long as my Mom could remember, she had always had kidney problems and was on dialysis. However, it never stopped ma tante from doing everything in life that she wanted to. She had five children, traveled all over the place, and was very active. My Mom remembers her playing cards with my grandma and grandpa with bags under the table that were connected to her body to discharge what couldn’t be filtered out properly because she was having too much fun and didn’t want to leave the table.

My grandma said that if she had had her health problems, she would have given up a long time ago and just sat at home waiting for the end. But not ma tante. Doctors told her she should have died about twenty years ago when she was in her sixties. And I’m sure they had been telling her that all her life. Instead, when her health started getting really bad, she asked to be transferred from the hospital to her home. She had someone help her call everyone whom she loved to say goodbye and did so without any drama. She held on for her husbands eighty-seventh birthday and, the next day, surrounded by her family and friends, she died peacefully.

She was a very strong and brave woman who proved that the human spirit can overcome any adversity thrown its way. She knew that life was a gift and that she was not going to waste it away at home. She knew that no matter what kind of hand life deals you, you can overcome it and accomplish anything you put your mind to.

That was a great lesson for me to learn.