As Christmas approached, Monika had two main goals: to make it through Christmas with her family here, and to make it past 2013 (which quite apart from her numerological superstitions, had obviously been a terrible year healthwise).  She accomplished both goals, but her health began to deteriorate rapidly on January 8th, and she died peacefully, surrounded by family, in the early morning hours of Friday, January 17th.

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Much to her delight, Monika’s sisters Sigi and Sissi flew in from Germany in mid-December for a short but intense visit of four days.  The three sisters gabbed late into each night and had a wonderful time together.  Among other things, Monika and I took them to the Tye River suspension bridge, Crabtree Falls, and Sarah and Hal Loken’s home, which in addition to Sarah’s nature photographs, offered a breathtaking view of the Blue Ridge mountains.

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And then came Christmas week, when Monika was reunited with her three older grandchildren (now in their late teens or early 20’s) all together for the first time in some years.  Dan’s negotiating a brief leave from his robotics program in Portugal made this possible, and it was a wonderful reunion and Moni’s final Christmas.

 

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In early January, Monika’s long-time friend Ursula arrived with her friend John.  They brought an incredible array of goodies as well as good cheer and assistance for a variety of things.  Monika was noticeably losing strength and function during this period, and it was great to have their help.

 

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Monika hosted her Grace prayer shawl guild on January 7th in the living room.  The following night she experienced terrible cramping and pain, and began to lose strength and function rapidly.  Her prayer shawl guild serenaded her in her bedroom the following Tuesday.  Dave came down from Pennsylvania and helped a lot, and Nic and Alison came by.  Dan, Gina, and John subsequently arrived.  Monika’s friend Samantha came and played her lyre for Monika several times in that final week.  Monika died peacefully at 4:50 am on January 17th, surrounded by family and holding fast to the prayer shawl that the guild had made for her to the very end.

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Throughout this period, Monika faced death with extraordinary courage and grace.

I miss her terribly, but am comforted to know that her death was seemingly painless and  peaceful.

I will always treasure our memories.