Happy Birthday Mom

Today my Mother-in-law, Shirley, would have been celebrating her 71st birthday. She passed away just a little more than 6 months ago, on September 11th. For the past two years her "address" was a nursing home in the mountains of North Carolina. It was not where she wanted to be and certainly where she didn't want to die. She hadn't walked in over a year so on good days we would bring her out to the porch to see Haleigh & Jack. She lit up when she saw them and she would even hold Jack on her lap. Two weeks before she passed, we all went up to see her and she was in really good spirits. The first thing she wanted was sierra mist and Taco Bell. I really wanted to show her Lake Lure but she said she wasn't up for it, she would have loved it. I'll always regret not taking her there, she was so close.
That was the last day Haleigh & Jack got to see her. She sat in her wheelchair and played ball with them-it was a great day. What I will always remember about her is what a great cook she was (she easily could take on any chef on Food Network) and how she always spoke her mind. Oh, we had our differences over the years-plenty of them, but she never stayed angry and she would give the very last dollar she had. I miss our Tuesday night phone calls after we both watched Judging Amy, I miss her telling me she's proud of her grandchildren & I even miss her yelling at Jeff & I for so many of the stupid things we did.
Shirley had a tough life and she left here too soon. If she were with us today, she would want to go to a Mexican restaurant & then watch her favorite movie "Message In a Bottle". So today we will have some tacos & I will watch her movie. I'd like to believe she's looking down at us with a smile on her face, sitting next to her Mom & Mike, and holding her favorite cup of tea. Happy Birthday-we miss you & love you.