Boogity
Almost Self-Reliant
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We do not really have a place for this kind of stuff so I picked this forum.
Some of you know that I have been volunteering at a soup kitchen for several years two days a week. I used to take lots of eggs in every week but due to gov. regulations I had to stop giving the eggs to the kitchen so I started to give the eggs and other veggies to needy people that I have met over the years. This resulted in a great friendship between me and a wonderful old farm gal, Maddy, who lots her hubby some time ago. They sold most of their small farm when he was sick with cancer to pay the bills. She really struggled to maintain the homestead and keep her head above water throughout her 70s. I fell in love with her after only a few visits to her very rural and run-down home. In between my upkeep projects at her house we would sit on her back "stoop" as she called it and talk about her life. Wow! What a strong and wonderful woman.
I knew she had not been feeling well for many weeks but she insisted that it was just "summer complaint" and she would be fit-as-a-fiddle in no time. Last Monday I noticed that her breathing was very labored and she seemed to be more tired than usual. I begged her to let me take her to the hospital but she refused and said that she thought it was a common cold. I tried to contact her son in St. Louis but he was not available. On Tuesday she didn't get up to greet me when I arrived. This was kind of a tradition and she would swing the front door wide open and holler like Minnie Pearl "Howdeeeeeeee" every time I arrived. I spent several hours with her on Tuesday and by the end of my visit she seemed to feel much better. I made her some hot tea with eucalyptus oil in it as this is her favorite drink when she has "summer complaint".
I was not able to go to her house on Wednesday as DW had a Dr. appointment and I wanted to go with her.
Thursday morning as I drove toward her house I had a gloomy premonition. It was foggy in the creek valley where her house is. She was laying in her bed as though sleeping. She was very cold and I couldn't find a pulse. I called the county police and they arrived within 20 minutes. I asked how I could help but they didn't know what to tell me. They took my statements and all of my personal information that they wanted and told me to just go on home. On the way I stopped at the soup kitchen and found out that nobody there knew much about her. But there is a woman who used to bring Maddy to the soup kitchen in a car about once a week but stopped some time ago. They are going to try to find out who this woman is. I gave the police the phone number I have for Maddy's son in Missouri.
Saturday afternoon I received a call from the state police and they made contact with the son but they could not get a commitment from him to be at the coroner's office today. Kind of strange. They also told me that they think it was congestive heart failure. As far as I know there will not be a funeral and cremation is scheduled for sometime this week.
Our world has bid adieu to a gem. I'm really going to miss her.
Some of you know that I have been volunteering at a soup kitchen for several years two days a week. I used to take lots of eggs in every week but due to gov. regulations I had to stop giving the eggs to the kitchen so I started to give the eggs and other veggies to needy people that I have met over the years. This resulted in a great friendship between me and a wonderful old farm gal, Maddy, who lots her hubby some time ago. They sold most of their small farm when he was sick with cancer to pay the bills. She really struggled to maintain the homestead and keep her head above water throughout her 70s. I fell in love with her after only a few visits to her very rural and run-down home. In between my upkeep projects at her house we would sit on her back "stoop" as she called it and talk about her life. Wow! What a strong and wonderful woman.
I knew she had not been feeling well for many weeks but she insisted that it was just "summer complaint" and she would be fit-as-a-fiddle in no time. Last Monday I noticed that her breathing was very labored and she seemed to be more tired than usual. I begged her to let me take her to the hospital but she refused and said that she thought it was a common cold. I tried to contact her son in St. Louis but he was not available. On Tuesday she didn't get up to greet me when I arrived. This was kind of a tradition and she would swing the front door wide open and holler like Minnie Pearl "Howdeeeeeeee" every time I arrived. I spent several hours with her on Tuesday and by the end of my visit she seemed to feel much better. I made her some hot tea with eucalyptus oil in it as this is her favorite drink when she has "summer complaint".
I was not able to go to her house on Wednesday as DW had a Dr. appointment and I wanted to go with her.
Thursday morning as I drove toward her house I had a gloomy premonition. It was foggy in the creek valley where her house is. She was laying in her bed as though sleeping. She was very cold and I couldn't find a pulse. I called the county police and they arrived within 20 minutes. I asked how I could help but they didn't know what to tell me. They took my statements and all of my personal information that they wanted and told me to just go on home. On the way I stopped at the soup kitchen and found out that nobody there knew much about her. But there is a woman who used to bring Maddy to the soup kitchen in a car about once a week but stopped some time ago. They are going to try to find out who this woman is. I gave the police the phone number I have for Maddy's son in Missouri.
Saturday afternoon I received a call from the state police and they made contact with the son but they could not get a commitment from him to be at the coroner's office today. Kind of strange. They also told me that they think it was congestive heart failure. As far as I know there will not be a funeral and cremation is scheduled for sometime this week.
Our world has bid adieu to a gem. I'm really going to miss her.
