My mother

Posted by Terry McNichols

My mother turned 83 last month. She weathered her own storm this past year, fighting and beating lymphoma. She lost all of her hair, was nauseated for months, and is now "cancer free" according to her latest PET scan. But the year has not been easy for her.
One thing my mother decided during this year was to stop dying her hair. We have been after her for years, trying to convince her that her natural hair color would be lovely. Her hair has grown in curly, gray and beautiful. As a result, she now looks more like her own mother did in my memory, and probably more like I will look at her age.

In spite of her cancer treatments, my mother managed to continue to sell real estate in Arizona during her ordeal. She was able to cover the costs of her treatment, selling over $1Million in real estate, in a down-turned market! How many 83-year-olds are still working, selling real estate, managing a business, without considering the additional stress of having to deal with cancer treatment? Go Mom! You're quite the woman! We all are proud of your spunk!

Aunt Josie - Terry

I wasn't really even related to "Aunt Josie," but grew to love her dearly when she moved to Bellingham for her final years to be near her niece. She lived in a retirement community and adopted several of her niece's friends as her own support group. Aunt Josie would save up her bingo wins and trade them for meal tickets so that she could invite us to join her for lunch. We had a wonderful time, entertained by the stories she would tell. Here is one that I have saved for years, thinking I'd submit it somewhere, but never getting around to it. Here's to Aunt Josie's spunk!

Aunt Josie and her friend from the retirement home, both in their early 80's, were riding together in a car one day, running errands. While driving, the friend was pulled over by a police officer for speeding. Upon seeing that the driver was not wearing a seatbelt, the officer pointed out that infraction as well, and began writing the ticket.

"Young man!" Josie's friend emphatically began. "Do you have any idea how painful it is to wear a seatbelt over a mastectomy?" The officer turned a brilliant shade of red, apologized, and backed away, declining to write either ticket.

After the officer had left, Aunt Josie exclaimed, "Why I never knew you'd had a mastectomy!" "I didn't say I'd HAD one," her friend replied.

Any more Aunt Josie stories? I'd love to hear them.