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My stepmother, Doris, passed away Saturday night. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's about five years ago, and spent the last year in a special Alzheimer's facility. I am pleased that she died in her sleep. She was 89.
Doris was a second mother to me. My parents divorced when I was eleven. During my teens, my relationship with my real mother could be best described as "toxic", although we later patched that up. When I was 17 I went to live with my father and Doris. They were both more motivating as parents than my mother. There was also more discipline. This is what I needed.
One day I was doing some chores for her at her office when a lady she hadn't seen in years saw her and came in. Doris said to the lady, "I would like you to meet my son, Gary". The lady responded by saying that she remembered a son John, but not a son Gary. Doris explained that I was her husband's son. I was touched, and literally blown away, that she would introduce me as her son. That moment says it all about this great lady.
We all miss her very much.
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