My Amazing Mom

This last week, my amazing mom passed away unexpectedly.

She had been dealing with advanced kidney disease since late 2019 but had maintained with meds. She had just gotten on the kidney transplant list in late April 2020. Soon after, her blood levels were all over the place. Two days after her 68th birthday on May 24, she went into the hospital with kidney complications for several days and then was released. A day later, she had a stroke and aneurysm at home. Doctors tried to address the aneurysm and bleeding on her brain, but the compounding of health issues meant surgery was not an option. We lost her to heaven on June 2, 2020.

I will chronicle her amazing life on this blog in the coming weeks and months. She was supporter of my interest in family history and often fed me tons of great information. She joined me on visits to cemeteries plenty of times. I told her I thought she should be a guest blog author on my site. We had just talked about it a couple weeks ago as something she could do when she started feeling a little better again. I left her a note in her casket telling her she’s our guardian angel, and I love her forever. I also asked her to kindly send me some family history hints from above if she can. (BTW: She already has.)

I have been thinking about all the things she meant to me for weeks. I wrote it all down when this final issue started happening. I read it to her in hospice about an hour before she passed. Rest in peace, mama.

Mom

My heart. 

My soul.

My laugh.

My smile.

My eyes. 

My hug.

My hand squeeze.

My breath.

My light.

My faith.

My prayers.

My hero.

My peace. 

My sorrow.

My tears.

My prayers.

My conscience.

My confidence.

My fierceness.

My goodness and grace.

My persistence.

My perseverance.

My resilience.

My strength.

My seeker for knowledge, truth and understanding.

My compassion.

My passion for humanity.

My fellow traveler.

My teacher. Mi senora.

My cheerleader.

My support system

My imagination, dreams and wonder.

My trusted friend.

My kids’ cuddly grandma.

My inspiration.

My motivation.

My joy.

My gratitude.

My family.

My history.

My wonderful woman and favorite person.

My love. Mi amor. My longest love.

My mom. Forever amazing. Forever in our hearts and souls. Forever ours.

Love you always and forevermore. 

~ Margaret Ann “Peggy” Munns Payne Groves ~

May 24, 1952-June 2, 2020

In our hearts forever