My Wonderful Mother-in-law

Last night my wonderful Mother-in-law, Sharon Cofini, passed away peacefully in her sleep.

Since last November my Mother-in-law was fighting lung cancer. It was hard for her, but she did the best that she could. Then 3 weeks ago she fell ill and was hospitalized. Tim and I have been in NY since then. Last Thursday we were lucky enough to get her into Frances House, a hospice house in Syracuse. Late last night we got the call to get there ASAP, that things were changing and she was getting ready to begin her journey to heaven. Right before we left they called again to tell us that she had passed. Very peacefully, the staff was there with her. She was a great woman and Mother-in-law and showed me how to be a great Mother-in-law when my times comes.

Tim and I are glad that we had some time with her these past few weeks. The last 2 days it seemed that she was getting weaker, although we did see glimmers of the real Mom. On Monday she was pretty funny, although weak and in some pain. Some things she didn't know she was saying (evidently she wanted to change Tim's name) and even teased me a bit. She also was seeing babies, which is something she has always loved and she told me that she would 'sleep tomorrow'. Yesterday she was so weak she could hardly be heard. She did want to have her hand held a lot and told us that it was the baby's birthday. She asked for everyone to hold her hand, I feel bad that I was the only one there then, but I tried to comfort her as much as I could. She also was talking about smoke, which I took to mean clouds in heaven. And at one point she was worried about Mike, her youngest son and made me check on him (he was fine and knowing that put her at ease). She even asked for a banana, although she couldn't really eat it she did put a bit in her mouth, she always loved bananas. Then right before she fell asleep she asked me to hold both of her hands and whispered to me that she loved me. That was a wonderful gift. We left while she was sleeping, she needed the rest since she had not slept the night before. My last look at her she had a slight smile on her face. 

She will be missed so much, but it has been my pleasure and honor to have had her in my life for almost 30 years.

Sha