My Mother is the toughest person I know

I have come to realize that my mother is the toughest person I know. She was with my father for 47+ Years and never left his side through no matter if it were good times or bad. Now on the 2nd anniversary of my fathers death it hit me like a ton of bricks, she was there from day one fighting the cancer with him, something I could not do. For that, she is the toughest person I know.

To sit and watch someone you Love die over that course of time is being tough. Giving up would have been easy. She never did. She sat day in and day out smiling in the face of the very thing that was stealing the love of her life away from her. I in my own heart do not believe I could do this. Losing my father has chipped a little bit away from me with each thought of it. It has profoundly changed me and I am hoping it is for the better, yet that remains to be seen. It did not change her; IN fact it could not even make her budge. She forsake all her own pleasures for two years to make sure my father did not suffer more than he had to. Something I could not.

When I found it easy to break down and cry for my father she found it easier to smile and make sure the time we had left were great. My father was a "tough guy" in the classical sense of the word. He wouldn’t take any shit, but would never be the one to start it either. For all of his toughness my mother was tougher, she was stronger in silence than he was in an angry action. When the world comes crashing down we all hope we are able to handle it with dignity and hold it together. She proved to me she could and that nothing would ever shake her foundation, Something I could not.

She never cried, she never lost hope; she never gave up the fight. When most find it easier to cut and run, she did not. For all this she is the toughest person I know. I am sure this is why my father loved her until his last breath which he took with my mother holding his hand telling him its okay to go, Something I could not. She would rather him go and be without pain forever with his maker than be selfish and keep him one more minute for herself. Something I could not.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I love my mother, for her wacky ways and her love of casinos and being silly. I respect her for her strength of character and her Iron will that has pulled her through much. She is the strongest person I know.