Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Grandma




On Nov 9, 2010 Lois Fanning Barry Schwartz joined her beloved husband, William Robert Schwartz whom had passed away on Oct. 6, 2007. They are survived by 7 children, Robert Barry, Colleen Johnson (Paul), Linda Gilkey (Gary), Cheryl Lane (Mark), Kurtis Barry (Donna), Mark Schwartz (Susan) Jeanell Delon, 12 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren & Lois’ brother, Richard.

Lois was born on Dec 27th of 1930 to Richard & Irene Fanning in Denver CO. She grew up in a loving home at Lincoln & Elsworth with her parents, a brother, her paternal Grandmother and a Cousin. She went to Sherman Elementary, Byers Jr. High, and graduated from South High in 1949. She then went to Barnes Business School where she met her first husband, Robert Barry. They were married in Feb. of 1951. In Dec of 1951 they had a son, Robert and she became a stay at home mom. In Feb of 1954 they had a daughter, Colleen and then they added another daughter, Linda in May of 1955. By this time the one bedroom attic apartment was overflowing and they bought a home in a new area of town call Athmar. In 1959 they made a move to Midland TX with Bobs’ company. The family moved back to the house in Athmar in Denver, which they had rented out while in TX, in 1960. In June of 1963 another son, Kurtis, was added to the family. Soon after this Lois & Bob were divorced and her children became her life. She had to go back to work and was working for a Temp Agency when in 1966 she was asked to go to a job at Cahners Publishing.

Even though both Bill & Lois had gone to the same Jr. High and High schools Lois was 7 years older then Bill so they had never met. After Bills’ divorce in 1972 while working at Cahners they would see each other in the halls and started working on different projects together. There was an attraction there but Bill had done nothing about it. So after a while Lois decided in 1978 to take the bull by the horns and ask Bill out. Right away he said yes. Lois asked him later why he had not asked her out and he said that he thought she was married and would never get in a situation like that. In June of 1979 they were married in a home they had purchased in Cherry Creek Vista with 6 of their 7 children present along with 2 grandchildren. Bill & Lois worked, traveled, hiked and loved their home together. They were the best of friends. They celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with a garden party at their home with about 80 of their family & friends in June of 2004. In 2005 the first signs of cancer showed up in Bill. After a long battle he passed away in 2007. Bill was cremated and was waiting for Lois to join him.

In May of 2008 Lois sold the house in Cherry Creek Vista and moved to her new condo at Aspen Terrace in the Windcrest Retirement Community. Her condo was on the top floor with a balcony where she had a view of the beautiful mountains that she loved. The friends that she made there were invaluable to her. She loved to laugh & talk with her new old friends as she called them. They made her life a joy.

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

56 Days

That's how long there was between the day my grandma was diagnosed with cancer to her passing. 56 days... That's less than 2 months. Can I just say, CANCER SUCKS!!!!!!

Sunday, November 07, 2010

How?

How do you want to find out your grandmother has died? I was asked this tonight. How do you answer a question like that? It was a valid question, one that I need to figure out the answer to. Cause it will happen and for me it is going to happen soon. My grandmother, my mother's mother, is dying. I have only had 6 weeks to wrap my head around it. She was diagnosed with advanced cancer 7 1/2 weeks ago. She decided not to fight it. Honestly, with as fast as it has gone, even if she did fight it, I don't believe it would have made any difference. I saw her 2 weeks ago at my cousins wedding reception, and while she was in a wheelchair, she still looked good, all things considered. It's hard to believe how quicly things have gone downhill. Yesterday afternoon, the family was told maybe a week, later last night, it was a few days. I cringe when the phone rings. Afraid that it is going to be the call. My mom asked me tonight what I wanted them to do if it happens while I am at work. I don't know what to say. I know what I want to say... "It's not going to happen so why ask." But I have to face reality, it is going to happen. Do I want a phone call? Do I want someone to come get me? There are many things in life we don't want to think about. This is one of them. And I better go figure it out. The situation is going to come sooner than later.