The First Christmas After...

Now that Christmas is come and gone, and things with Justin have settled down, I have the time to reflect on the first Christmas without my mother. Since my mother was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer in 2012, she reminded us of all she had taught us. Pat Davis was a fighter. She was always searching, with her doctors, for the best course of treatment for her. We watched as our mother lost so much weight that she had to sign a DNR because compressions would crack her ribs, we watched as she had to have fluid removed from her abdomen on a regular basis, we watched as she had to have surgery because her intestines became blocked and then had to have surgery for multiple hernias. Through it all she lived her life like she always had. That included selling her house in Wyoming, packing up their belongings and moving cross country back to TN. She cooked, baked, sewed for craft fairs she was planning on going to, and began to teach my 9 year old niece how to sew herself. She visited Myrtle Beach, attended the church I grew up in and became active in praying for others in the church. My mother taught us that you NEVER give up, the cancer never wins, when you die you have beaten it because it is no longer able to ravish your body. This was the first Christmas without her, and while it was hard on all of us because it was her favorite holiday, we were able to continue with the traditions she began 40+ years ago with smiles on our faces because she taught us how to live, how to fight, how to remember our loved ones, and most importantly, how to love and lean on each other. While I may be typing this with tears in my eyes and on my cheeks, they are happy tears because I am able to remember her with a smile on my face. Knowing that while her physical form is no longer with us, her spirit is always with us and I will be reunited with her one day in Heaven. I love you mommy.