I am so sorry for your loss. Nothing said or done helps,but I do care, that you've had to go through this traumatic experience. My Mom died of ovarian cancer July 3rd 2009. She had the surgery followed by chemo treatments, it was in remission for 4 years. Only to come back again about a year and a half later. More chemo, tons of tests, they switched chemo treatments a few times. We got her into one of the best cancer treatment centers and the end result was, she still died. I seen my mom go through so much with the chemo treatments so I understand your mom's not wanting to go through it =/ I would of insisted Mom do chemo, too simply cause I couldn't bear to lose her. It hurts. It hasn't gotten better so far. In fact sometimes it seems to get worse as I realize, I've never gone without talking to her for so long. I really hope it does get easier for the both of us. Like you my Mom was pretty much all I had. Never been close to my Dad.

I would love to tell you we don't have mosquitos but I would be lying. They aren't the state bird like when I was in Wisconsin, but we do have them. Our summers can be rough because it is humid here in the summer. In the winter we get some snow, not tons and tons, and we get ice storms occasionally. My cousin lives in Parkville. It is a very cute town and has some great real estate, both older homes and newer suburbs. School-wise I think you're in good shape up north; it is really just KCMO proper where the schools are dreadful. I live one block from the KS-MO state line (on the Kansas side) just a little south of the Plaza. If the job involves air travel you're very smart to stick to the northland. Even though the airport is an easy commute from anywhere (25 minutes maybe for me?) if I were doing it several times a month, I would want to be closer. I don't know much personally about Liberty or Parkville but I have friends who grew up in Liberty and my cousin in Parkville so if you have any specific questions let me know and I can ask them. Anita

Thank you so much, everyone. It's been a hard few weeks, trying to deal with the little details and stuff despite the mourning. Claude was very close with his dad. I didn't know him too well, but I loved him very much. I was so upset for Claude having lost his dad, but he seems to be coping okay. He certainly has his days and moments, but he'll be alright for sure. Sophie's take on things has actually helped us deal with it all. When Gerry first died she though it was so exciting that he was actually getting to finally meet Jesus right now! Whenever Claude is having a hard time she reminds him that Pépère is probably playing and running around and having a wonderful time in Heaven right now. We tend to focus on OUR grief rather than the fact that Gerry is in a much better place right now.

Wow....what an amazing list of people.... too many of them no longer with us or active here. It is nice to remember some of their names and their struggles that we shared. Thanks for the memories.