I had an update ready to post today. It was a look at how people react to you when you are unemployed. I actually had it written and preloaded to post last week. For the first time since starting the blog I was working ahead of schedule. This is because I am starting my new job today. Thankfully after six months of unemployment I have the opportunity to go back to work doing something I love. I had written the blog post last week as I was getting ready to go back to work, making sure that my long unused work clothes were clean and still fit, finding my social security card, things like that. Life was moving fast and I couldn’t wait for Monday to come so I could get back to work.

This is not that update. Last Friday my wife’s grandmother was placed under the care of Hospice. She wasn’t given much time. Aunts, Uncles, and cousins began flying in from all over the country to say goodbye to her. People left behind their school, work, and social commitments to travel to Connecticut. Life stopped as we all prepared for the inevitable and tried to comfort each other. Mrs. Mirek passed away late Sunday morning.

I can’t even begin to write a memorial to Mrs. Mirek. People who knew her better and were closer to her will do a far more fitting job than I. I never knew her very well and I wouldn’t want to miss important parts of her life by trying and failing to do her justice here. I do know part of her legacy though. I know the amazing family she built with her husband over the years. I know the kind and giving children she helped raise as Katie’s father, uncles, and aunts. I know the strength she gave them as they deal with the pain of losing both parents within eight months of each other, and the compassion they share with each other and their children as they move through this ordeal.

I know that along with her husband, Mrs. Mirek was a great role model. Mr. and Mrs. Mirek taught us all how important family and love was through their devotion to each other. Mr. Mirek had vision problems and Mrs. Mirek had Parkinson’s disease and associated dementia. They stayed devoted to each other until the end, always finding a way to be together. Even when they could no longer share an apartment he would visit her daily in her wing of the assisted living home until he passed away. They were a real life version of The Notebook. They have inspired their family to always work together to find solutions to life problems and never give up on what is important to them.

Mr. and Mrs. Mirek left an indelible mark on their family by doing what they thought was right and teaching everyone around them to do the same. Please keep Katie’s family in your thoughts and prayers as they say goodbye to this amazing woman this week. I know that she will be missed every day.

I also have to mention the amazing work that the people of Hospice do every day. These nurses and caregivers have helped my family three times in the last year. They are amazing people that work hard every day to help the people in their care who are dying, and the people in their care that have to go on after the death. The job that they do supporting the families is amazing. I can’t imagine how much harder these passings would be without their care.