Tag Archives: Death & Dying

Cleola Mae (Coe) Betten~My Nana

Posted on by
1

I have blogged about my Nana’s cancer battle in the past months. Well, she lost her valiant battle on the 5th. There are a few things I want to share…

My mom

My amazing mother. Wow. She was by my Nana’s side for five months straight. From the week she was diagnosed until the end. She came home to Nebraska for six days ONCE only and it was for a doctors appointment of her own. She was my Nana’s primary care giver and lived, ate, breathed for Nana. I can say with definite certainty that Nana would not have lived as long as she did had my mother not been there. Some may wonder if Nana sufferred longer than necessary because of this but NO..she did not. She was strong, did not hurt or suffer until the very last 10 days. She lived for another mother’s day…which in itself is awesome as she was a mother of nine! My mom watched her mom die. Wow~can you imagine how painful this must be. Nana was only really uncomfortable for less than a week and hospice was there to help. It is amazing how when it was time..it really did go quick. For those there by my Nana’s side day in and day out that week, I know it seemed tortuously slow.

Most definitely the most important thing my mother accomplished during her time in Florida was helping to lead my Nana back to Christ. I can’t wait to see her again one day in that awesome Kingdom of God.

My brother

My baby brother. A pillar of strength. Jesse just happened to be down in Florida for a job interview the day after they put Nana on hospice…exactly one week before she passed. He decided to stay to be with my mom. He was amazing. He was a rock for her to lean on and also I am told was a key player in caring for Nana, especially in the last couple of days. He prayed over her with the family. Just minutes before she died he sang a song to her that she taught all of us kids. He sang this to her for “us”-the four of us. He held her hand while she took her last breath, literally. He said he held it to keep it warm for “us”-the four of us. Having 9 children, you can bet the dynamics surrounding her passing were difficult to boot. My brother was a neutral “advisor” per se to my mother through these times as well.

“Being together” at the right time

Although we were not all in Florida when she actually passed we were together spiritually. Jesse kept us VERY up to date on Nana’s status. He spoke to us the night before she passed and said he thought it would be soon. He actually text messaged my siblings and I exactly one hour prior to her passing saying it will be soon now…pray for Nana (this was shortly after 7am for my sister and I here in Nebraska, 6am for my brother in Montana). I am sure we all did what Adam and I did-thinking of Nana, my mom, my brother and prayed, cried, etc..until we got the call from him exactly one hour later that she was gone.

Celebrating as a family

As mentioned Nana and Pepe had nine children, TONS of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. With all of these people, our family has been immensely blessed. Nana is the first one to pass in our family. Funerals are a foreign thing to us-but hers was beautiful. Her eulogy was amazing. Perhaps one of the most important things in life to my Nana was Christmas. She lived for it. She spoiled each and every one of us EVERY year. Her funeral ended with the priest asking the entire family to come up and place a hand on her casket and then a song began to play….a Christmas carol none the less. Her funeral ended with all of us singing Silent Night in her honor. This had to be a beautiful sight to see (I wish I had a picture!) as we were ALL there except for only 4 grandchildren. Otherwise, her entire family was present and accounted for~many hands resting on her casket.

My husband

Adam is crazy awesome with computers and has developed this site in honor of my Nana, check it out! http://nanasgang.net/

 

Nana & Pepe

Posted on by
Reply

Today I am reminiscing about my recent weekend spent literally “giggling” with my siblings and mother. All four of us flew to Florida to see my mother and of course my Nana and Pepe.

I am so very thankful to have spent time with both my Nana and Pepe-what a great blessing. My Nana is very sick. My only regret is that I have not had children that will remember their “Nana and Pepe”. I will be sure to tell my children someday about their great grandparents. About how proud Pepe is of his entire family-all 9 of his children and their children. How he loves to get the family together to celebrate….anything. About their generosity. About Nana’s quiet strength that radiates from her-even now while she is sick.

I cried when I said goodbye to Nana on Sunday. I have struggled with it this entire week as well. It hurts to think of not seeing her again. Our family is one that has been blessed more than any of us can begin to imagine. We are a family that is healthy and full of longevity and have been fortunate to not have experienced any tragedy. Adam comforted me in reminding me that the time we have on this earth is just a “blink of an eye” of our time together and that the real time we will be together is on the streets of gold which will be for eternity.

I have many framed pictures of my family on the walls in my clinic, including the engagement and wedding photos of my Nana and Pepe. I hear at least once per week how much I look like my Nana and this makes me proud.

then1