One Year Later

One year ago today, my sister Nancy went home to be with the Lord. I miss her EVERY day, and I am so thankful we had the time to spend together, all too short time... I know she is still with me in my heart and always will be, and even though the tears come still when I miss her, I can find joy at the thought of her dancing with the angels.

I will never forget images of her dressed in her ugg boots, tights, a tunic and a cape of some kind... a weird huge cowboy hat, and had a sword she made from something. She called it her Cancer Fighting Suit... Lord, she could make me laugh! Silly things remind me of her...orange butterflies, tunafish cans, Gypsy Vanner horses and mules of any kind.
 I have memories of riding in her dark green jacked-up, airbrushed, tricked-out, redneck truck with the windows rolled down, radio blasting- Wild Thing.... and a little happy Jack Russell who howled "I love you" to her...of caramel ice cream and her popping out of my laundry room to surprise me on my birthday... Sophie and Zelda and Big Momma Hoadah....arguments and hugs, laughter and tears... these are the best memories... ♥

She was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon cancer almost one year to the day before she died, but she went down fighting. She travelled with her husband to Montana for a week,  courtesy of The Dream Foundation:  http://www.dreamfoundation.org/ and visited the bison, went horseback riding, and howled at the moon. She worked at the horse rescue facility up in Murphy, NC, and went down the Nantahala River on a raft trip... all this with a colostomy bag and between bouts of chemo... she was so strong!

She kept her sense of humor almost till the end... I lay in the bed with her and talked to her last Thanksgiving... she was ready to stop fighting almost then... and in so much pain...anyway, can ya tell I miss her! ?