Love you Joan.

My great aunt Joan has kind of been like a pseudo grandma to me for my entire life. She was never married and did not have the opportunity to have children, so I think our grandmother/grandchild relationship was mutually beneficial. She lived in San Diego, lived in the house my mom lived in for most of her teenage life, and on a clear day, you could see the ocean from the back porch. There were several fruit trees in the back, but my favorite tree of all time is the lemon tree in the front yard. Every time we would visit, Grant and I would drive back to Utah with a car load of lemons. We made fresh squeezed lemonade, decorated the house with them, etc. We always had a good time visiting with Aunt Joan and I feel so fortunate to have had her in my life. Joan passed away yesterday morning, around 10:30 a.m. in the comfort of her own home, where she lived independently until about 7 weeks ago. Her strength and stamina amazes me and I am grateful that she was finally able to move on from the physical discomfort she was enduring in this life and is now liberated and on to the next portion of her divine existence with bigger and better things to do without the handicap of her aging body.
Joan had an incredible life full of travels and friends. She was an excellent and dedicated nurse, and I can only hope that her passing on the day of my nursing school interview can mean that I will be admitted to the nursing program and have the opportunity to carry on her legacy as an excellent caregiver.
Through all this I have also gained a greater appreciation for my mom and her selfless love. She has been "living" in San Diego for the past 7 weeks caring for Joan since she has been home from the hospital and on hospice. They knew her days were limited, but could obviously not give a definite time frame for her passing. My dad sacrificed having my mom gone while he had to do the tasks at home which she usually does, which make his crazy work life manageable. My mom has missed out on so much at home but out of love was willing to sacrifice to be there with Joan, and allow her to stay in her home until she died. What a blessing it is that she was able to do this, but thank you mom also for your willingness to learn new "nursing" skills, now be able to use medical terminology with me, and most of all be such an amazing caregiver to Joan when she needed it the most.
We will always love and miss Joan, but it is times like this that make me so grateful for my knowledge of a plan, that I KNOW she has moved on to another part of the plan, to continue to work and grow in happiness.