My Wonderful Friends, what a lucky day it was for me when I stumbled upon the Mudcat. Your thoughts, words and prayers will be appreciated by our whole family. We had 48 wonderful years together having met on a blind date in college. Fortunately for me, I have three wonderful grown children living here and close by. I will tell them of the wonderful new caring friends I have made here in the Mudcat and the messages you have sent me.

Unfortunately, many of the last twenty of the forty eight years were painful ones for her. She was a victim of rheumatoid arthritis and had many surgeries over the last five years including, open heart (a rheumatoid arthritis nodule grew on a stem in one of her heart valves and affected her heart beat until it was removed), hip and knee replacement, ankle fusion (which failed) and the last surgery, which was done last March, the surgeon inserted a metal surgical nail through her heel and drove it almost to her knee. This was intended to correct the failed fusion. We thought she was out of the woods but she died on the day she was to have had her final check-up on that surgery. The cause was a blood clot that resulted probably from the surgery and made its way through the bloodstream to her lungs. The only bright spot in this whole situation and one that gives me some comfort is that she will have no more pain.

God Bless you all and thank you, for your kind words. I am especially grateful to Catspaw for starting this thread and bbc who has become my new special friend. I'm printing off the messages so that our children may share them also.

DougR