Precious Joy

My sweet friend and neighbor, Precious Joy Bowman, died yesterday morning. I spent a lot of time with her, especially the last few weeks. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's recently and couldn't be home alone for long periods of time. Her son asked me to take care of her while he was gone to Europe. I made sure she took her medicine, had something to eat, walked her to the bathroom, watched TV with her, etc. He also hired someone to spend the night with her in case she fell trying to get to the bathroom. She woke Mary up around 4:45 Sunday morning because she couldn't get a deep breath and her chest felt tight. Mary called me and then called 911. We were in the ER with her until they asked us to step out because she was "losing her heartbeat." Forty-five minutes later the doctor told me she passed away. I had not been in this kind of situation before...being the one to hear those words from the doctor...the one to tell her family...the one to take her bag of "things" back to the house and straighten up her house...the only one with details of how her last day went...and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I loved Ms. Precious very much. She was like a grandmother to us. Many, many times she would call to tell me to send one of the kids over to pick up a cake (with her homemade chocolate icing) or fresh yeast rolls (THE BEST) to go with our dinner. She made the best "peanut butter roll" at Christmas. I was supposed to help her this year so that she could show me how to make it. Precious was an amazing woman. She was 91 yrs old but until just recently, seemed not a day over 75. She still hung her laundry out on the line and took care of her flower beds. She was a gem for sure. I hope I have half her energy when I am old. I will miss her so much.