Dad told me to write a tribute to Grandmom Rochelle, for the

1. In Memory of Grandmom Rochelle
~
A lot of us know how funny, kind, and charismatic
Grandmom Rochelle was. Some have heard of her,
some have met her, some are close family
members of her. Some time ago, Grandmom
Rochelle developed terminal ovarian cancer. She
always stayed strong during tough times. May
28th was her birthday. Her 3 sons (my dad and
his two brothers, Uncle Alan, and Uncle Steve),

2. her sister, Aunt Millie, her sister's daughter,
Nancy, her other son's wife and his child, and
other family members all sung Happy Birthday to
her. Aunt Marie (Uncle Steve’s wife) brought a
very beautiful half chocolate/half vanilla cake
with chocolate icing and beautiful multicolored
roses on all sides and corders with white letters
saying, "Happy Birthday Rochelle!" to the hospital.
She cracked a smile, which was the best thing we
could see. A couple nights later, she could not
speak at all, only make slight sounds that were
supposed to be words. She was very frail, the
cancer was taking its toll on her. I've visited her
room in the hospital every single day for the past
4 or 5 days during that week. Some days were
better than others for her, she still stuck strong
through hard times.It was literally heart-
wrenching to see her like this, but I kept a smile
on my face for her. I had told her a story about
what I did that day. She smiled at a few parts.

3. Someone who has a bunch of IVs hooked up, who
can’t stand up, who can’t even talk. Someone who
can’t move much, someone who’s stuck in a
hospital with terminal cancer, smiled. If someone
you’ve loved hasn’t experienced grave illness or
death, you don’t know what it’s like. People take
life for granted sometimes, perhaps
unintentionally. Life is precious, experience every
minute of it with people you love. Someday I'll be
really old and my parents might only have a few
days to live. Experiencing things like this really
make you reconsider life. I had said, “Tomorrow
may be the last time I ever see my grandmother.
I want to spend as much time as possible with
her.” I'll always remember the good times, the
Thanksgivings with her special mashed potatoes
and delicious turkey that I always loved to eat,
the birthday I gave her a Siamese cat figurine
with a mini-mat beneath it, the day we went to
Clyde's last Mother's Day (even though the food

4. wasn't that great, it was so very special to spend
it with her.), the time she got be a Black Friesian
Webkinz when it had just come out while I was
visiting her... so many wonderful memories of my
grandmother that I'll always cherish and
remember. When the decision of Hospice was
finalized, I was very sad. I didn’t want my
grandmother to die, but I understood that she
would die either way at some point, and I wanted
the best for her, not for me. I would rather her
die sooner, and in no pain, than die later, in pain.
When I met the Hospice nurses, they were very
kind. I’d like to thank them for helping my
grandmom and other patients like her in similar
situations. I’d also like to say to the awesome
nurses that Grandmom Rochelle really really loved
you being there. You were very kind to her, and
she very much appreciated it. Thank you Vivian
and Mavis! I’d also like to thank Uncle Steve and
Uncle Alan for being there for their mom, my

5. grandmother. And I’d like to thank my dad, the
best dad in the world, for staying with his mom
during the hard times, and for staying with me
when I needed someone to talk to, and for
reading this to all of you. I would also like to
thank Aunt Marie for buying the biggest cake in
the world for Grandmom Rochelle. Even though
she couldn’t eat it, I bet she loved it all the same.
And thank you, Granddad Tom, for being there
for her when she asked for you. Grandmom
Rochelle felt honoured when everyone came to
visit her. She felt loved, protected, and safe
down to her last breath. She was surrounded by
family to the very end. There is no better gift
than family.