We’ve all been blessed with how long my mother has been with us… my mother deserves a lot of credit… she did not have an easy life.
My mother was the eldest of 5 siblings… growing up with 4 brothers had its advantages… she was always the first sibling in the bathtub…lol and when she wrecked my Uncle Bob’s car, which she did not have permission to drive, the other 3 brothers protected
her.
When I was just a baby, I’m the youngest of 4 siblings, my father contracted encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) probably from an infected insect. This left my father handicapped and unable to work. My mother had to become the bread winner, support the family and deal with a now aggravated husband… but my mother kept us together… family was the most important thing to my mother. Even when my now aging father had to recuperate from surgery in a nursing home and could no longer walk, against the advice of others, she brought my father home and cared for him until she physically and mentally could not do so anymore..: it was through this caring time that I saw the love between my parents that was rarely seen after my father’s sickness.
To my nieces and nephews… be proof the genes that have been shared with you… you come from good stock… and I will be proud knowing that when mine and my wife Deborah’s journey is over, we will rest beside my mother and father in the now Historical Saint Clement Cemetery.
Mom… thank you for always being there, your support, strength, compassion and most of all… thank you for the family you provided and what it has grown into.
Sincerely
John and Deborah Heier
