I will shed a few tears as I write this. That is okay though ... my little brother tells me that is how I know my relationship with my Mom was full of love, authentic and worth cherishing.

If you spent any time with my Mom in the last 3-1/2 years, you’ll know it was a gift. Joyce was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer in August 2019. Survival rate—being able to live a cancer free life after this diagnose—is about 6%. So, we all cried. For 3-1/2 years she fought the cancer with diet, chemotherapy, medicine and pills—everything the medical world had available. In the end, cancer had the final say and Joyce left us peacefully on December 6, 2022.

I had a great Mom. I will cherish all the memories I have of her. As a parent, she was always there for us. There were some lean times growing up. She would attend court reporting school for 8 hours during the day and then go to work for 6 hours in the evening—to continue to provide for us. During those years we did not take vacations or have trendy clothes, but we had love and we had each other. She always had a hug and smile to share—and made our house a home.

My Mom taught me many things. She taught me how to cook and bake. She taught me how to talk to girls and passed on sage marriage guidance. She gave me confidence and routinely spoke words of encouragement. Joyce was wise and always had advice to share. She wanted all of us kids to make good choices and think about possible consequences of our actions—before we made the mistake. She challenged us in our studies and helped us pursue our hobbies, sports and passions. She taught me how to wrap a gift and fold the bottom fitted sheets properly. My Mom was very good at math and helped me most nights in high school with my trigonometry and calculus homework. Yeah—she was smart.

What I will cherish most about my Mom is that she introduced me to Jesus. She taught me what it is to be a Christian. And she didn’t just teach me, she modeled it with her life. Her words, her deeds, her kindness were evidence of her own faith in Christ. No, my Mom was not perfect. She knew she needed Jesus’ saving grace. I am confident my Mom is currently cancer-free and living in a new body, in the company of her Creator. I believe relationships are one thing we can take with us to heaven. If you are reading this day and don’t know about the saving power of Jesus Christ, please reach out to me. As Joyce passed this good news to me, I’d love to follow my Mom’s example and pass it on to you.

I want to says thanks to Steve, Marla and Nick for helping care for the Joyce the last 60 days of her earthly life while I was 700 miles away. It was not easy and they personally scarified time, energy and emotion to make Joyce’s passing as pleasant as possible. I was able to visit with my Mom many times this year—in February, June, July, August, October and November. We all realized Mom’s days were numbered during my last two visits. We talked, cried, hugged, prayed, laughed and ate. I was able to say everything that I wanted to say to my Mom. My last words (in person) to my Mom were ‘I love you’ and ‘I’ve nothing else to say’. Her time was her final gift that she gave to her family. She hung on, endured discomfort and restless days—so we could all say good-bye.

Mom — I look forward to seeing you again. If I’m lucky, I have another 25 years on this planet. So for now, I just want to say it one more time: ‘I love you’ and ‘good-bye’. Thanks for being my Mom.