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Lizzie2
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My Great Aunt Connie...
« on: Mar 5th, 2007, 9:50pm » |
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My Great Aunt Connie died today, at the age of 88. She was in a hospital in Tampa, Florida - for the past few days, they have been making her comfortable. Her daughter and son-in-law were present, as well as my grandparents. She was my grandma's oldest sister - my grandma has 2 sisters - Connie and Kay - and Connie is the first to go... 
I talked to my Aunt Judi (Connie's daughter) on the phone tonight first, and she was doing pretty well. We know that my Aunt Connie is in heaven with her parents and also her first husband Jimmy (Judi's father who died in WWII in the Phillippines) as well as her second husband Al (Sheen - whose brother was Bishop Fulton Sheen...). Connie was a great person who led a wonderful life. In her older years, she volunteered at a nursing home at least once a week until she had a stroke a couple of years ago. She moved into an assisted living place last summer, and then she has been in steady decline ever since - various hospital stays for dehydration, falls, etc. She had pneumonia about a week ago and actually spent a couple of days on a ventilator in the ICU - she did get better, which was the only reason the doc had put her on the vent. But once she got better and they transferred her to rehab, we knew that if anything further were to happen, that she would be DNR.
The rehab place did actually call 911 and because the medics weren't provided with all the paperwork by the rehab place, they ended up intubating her in the ambulance. When my Aunt Judi arrived at the hospital and spoke to them about the DNR and provided the papers, they took her off the vent. The past 3 days, they have been providing pain medication and comfort measures. One nurse yesterday was absolutely terrible, and I cried today at work while telling 2 other nurses about how bad this nurse was. But the rest were phenomenal, and I'm so glad for that. If she had still been alive when I got home from work tonight and the nurses had been like the one she had yesterday, then I would have been on the phone with the supervisor myself. Nobody treats a dying loved one the way this nurse was behaving. Terrible to not have compassion and caring in someone's final days. But aside from that one nurse, the rest were absolutely wonderful - helping her to stay as comfortable as possible and being there as a support to my family. Connie died today at around 2:45pm.
My mom is going to Tampa in the next couple of days for the services. I would very much like to go, but I am unable to go due to financial reasons and also work scheduling. It's just not going to work out - even if I got the time off from work (which I technically probably could), I just can't afford to go right now. But I do plan to go down in June, and I will spend time with my grandparents and Aunt Judi then. And my spirit will sure be with them over the next few days...
I picture my Aunt Connie dressed like she was in the 1940s or 1950s - makeup all done - red lipstick of course - hair all done up...and waiting for my Uncle Jimmy...dressed in uniform. These were some of the happiest times of her life, and I know she's up in Heaven with our loved ones that have gone on ahead. I know she's at peace now....and I'm glad for that - but I really miss her....
Here's a couple pics from 2 years ago when I went to Florida:
My great aunt Connie in her condo in Bellair Bluffs - Clearwater, FL, where she lived until last summer:
Aunt Connie, Nana, Myself, Pappy, in Connie's condo in Clearwater:
May she rest in peace.....
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Sean_C
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #1 on: Mar 5th, 2007, 9:57pm » |
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My condolences to you and your family
Sean....................................
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broomhilda
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #3 on: Mar 5th, 2007, 10:28pm » |
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Carrie, I am so sorry for your loss...
My deepest condolences to you and your family
Big hugs
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Mosaicwench
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #4 on: Mar 5th, 2007, 11:11pm » |
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So very sorry for your loss. I lost my Dad last November.
Peace be with you and yours in the coming months.
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The difficulties of life are intended to make us better, not bitter. ~Author Unknown
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barry_sword
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #5 on: Mar 5th, 2007, 11:17pm » |
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So sorry Carrie. Our thoughts and prayers for the whole family.
From Canada,
Barry
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Lizzie2
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #6 on: Mar 6th, 2007, 12:00am » |
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Thank you all... This is hard... I called my grandma earlier, and as soon as she heard me say, "Hi Nana...It's Carrie," she burst into tears - which of course made me cry, too. I know she is better off now, but still...we all miss her so much - and my heart really aches for my grandma, who has now lost a sibling for the first time, and also for my aunt Judi, who has lost her mom. I cannot bear thinking about going through a similar thing someday, even though I know this is part of life. I'm so close to my family - my grandma and I have always been really close, and things like this always force you to look at our mortality. I'm glad that my great aunt is no longer suffering - just feeling really sad right now... Thanks for the thoughts and condolences...
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Charlie
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #7 on: Mar 6th, 2007, 2:02am » |
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Sorry about your great aunt, Lizzie. It looks like she had a full life and I guess from your post that she was fairly healthy too. Nice.
I loved Fulton J. Sheen. You can still see him on the Catholic Channel on Fridays here. Brings back memories of my Yoot.
Looks like you have quite a family.
Charlie
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LeLimey
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #8 on: Mar 6th, 2007, 3:45am » |
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I'm so sorry Carrie, my deepest sympathy to you and your family. If you are at home in the next few days and want to talk drop me a pm or an email and I'll call ((HUGS))
lots of love from me Brid Barney and Jasper (who miss you alot and ask about you all the time  )
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Grandma_Sweet_Boy
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #9 on: Mar 6th, 2007, 5:30am » |
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Sorry for this loss to your family, Carrie.
May the wonderful memories you shared help to carry you all through this.
Hugs
Carol
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PollyPocket
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #10 on: Mar 6th, 2007, 5:48am » |
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My deepest condolences Carrie. She sounds like she was a wonderful person in your life. Now she lives on in your hearts and in Heaven.
Wishing you peace and comfort in your time of sadness,
Jen
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Redd
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #11 on: Mar 6th, 2007, 7:21am » |
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My sympathy's Carrie.
Much love from Redd and the gang.
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sandie99
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #12 on: Mar 6th, 2007, 12:15pm » |
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Carrie,
I'm so sorry for your loss... 
My deepest condolences to you and your family.
Hugs,
Sanna
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Melissa
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #13 on: Mar 6th, 2007, 1:44pm » |
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My sympathies to you and your family Carrie on your loss.
love,
melissa
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Paul98
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #14 on: Mar 6th, 2007, 1:53pm » |
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My thoughts go out to you and your family Carrie. It sounds like she had a long full life,
-P.
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Brew
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #15 on: Mar 6th, 2007, 2:44pm » |
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Your head tells you so many things at a time like this, and they all make perfect sense. But your heart says only one thing, and it's that you miss her. Allow yourself to feel the loss, and feel it deeply. Grieve. It's one of the things that makes us uniquely human. All the logical things you've laid out will still make sense once the wound has closed, but right now the wound is fresh. Go with that right now. Six months, a year (or more) from now you'll be glad you allowed yourself to be sad and lonely.
You have my deepest condolences.
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George_J
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #16 on: Mar 6th, 2007, 2:55pm » |
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Very sorry to hear this, Carrie.
My best wishes to you, and to your family.
George
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Tim_w
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #17 on: Mar 6th, 2007, 4:16pm » |
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Liz
You and your's are in our thought's and Prayers!
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Gator
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #18 on: Mar 6th, 2007, 11:51pm » |
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I'm sorry for your loss, Carrie. My condolences to you and the rest of the family.
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Lizzie2
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Re: My Great Aunt Connie...
« Reply #19 on: Mar 7th, 2007, 6:39pm » |
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Thank you all so much. It's been hard - sometimes I get distracted by things at work, and then I'll "remember" and then feel terrible for not thinking about it for that little bit - and then other times, I just feel so sad - but yet other times still, I feel relieved for her. The times that it leads me to think about my aging grandparents and what will happen when my parents get older, I generally end up breaking down in tears - even though this is life. I was trying to find her obituary online today - in case it was posted in the paper since the viewing is tomorrow, but it wasn't up. What I found instead was an article from when this guy was trying to get Bishop Sheen canonized to be the patron saint of the media. The author of the article had interviewed my Aunt Connie for her memories of the Bishop, her brother-in-law. I felt sad just reading her words there - remembering how she used to be - and how she was even just a few years ago. I can hear her voice and even feel her if I think about it. The memories I mean...
So my mom flew down to Tampa today - actually I don't know if her plane arrived just yet. She's going to share a hotel room with one of her brothers and my grandparents and her other brother and sister-in-law will each have a room also as well as a couple of other family members. The viewing is tomorrow, and the funeral is Friday. I said again to my mom today that I soooo wish I could be there. But I know it will also be good to go down in a couple of months.
Thanks so much again for all of the thoughts and condolences...I appreciate it...
Hugz,
Carrie
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