Rose Marie the Mother-In-Law:

A long while ago, I heard a sermon worthy of remembering, forever. The minister spoke about heroes. He mentioned all of the usual courageous, noble, high achieving people we would all agree are “extra ordinary”. These people are certainly worthy of our respect, but it was what he mentioned next that caught my mind and heart. The “real” heroes in life are not those who drive into life’s ditches and dig their way out. The “real” heroes in life are not those that accomplish great feats and conquer many foes. The real heroes, instead, are those that take on the teachings of Jesus Christ and never look back. The real heroes are those that wake up day in and day out, day after day, year after year, serving God and the people around them with endless fervor. The real heroes are those that keep moving forward amidst life’s struggles and continuously practice and share their faith protecting and safeguarding the Truth. Rose Marie never wavered in her belief. She never quit living her faith even amidst Alzheimer’s. Near the end of her life Rose Marie could not speak intelligible words, but in church on Sunday, she could sing every word to the worship songs perfectly. While living at the Memory Care Center, Rose Marie couldn’t brush her own hair or teeth, but she could hug every nurse, medical assistant and chef. Amidst the hugs she would look into their eyes and humbly mumble what we knew as, “Thank-you for helping me.” Over and over she would comment as best she could, “She’s so nice” or “He’s so nice.” On our last visit before Rose Marie became terminal she grabbed Matt’s hand and we could make out her famous words, “That’s my guy.” Our family sometimes poked fun at the reiteration of the same phrases over and over and over again. Now, I cherish the fact that Rose Marie never quit loving people even amidst her health crisis.

Rose Marie is one of my heroes. The first night I met the Groover family Rose Marie & Jerry warmly embraced me and said, “Welcome to our family.” From that day forward Rose Marie always had my back even when her own son was in disagreement with me. I remember one time, while Matt and I were dating, Rose Marie drove me home. (Matt was too mad at me to drive me home) She stayed with me until the wee hours listening while I poured out my guts regarding “why” I couldn’t just hand over my meager life savings to her son to put towards a future home for us without being engaged or married. It didn’t matter how trustworthy Matt or the family was, to me it just wasn’t a smart idea. She never spoiled Matt’s master plan, just listened and comforted and encouraged me. I’ll never forget her squeezing me so tight a month later at the hot air balloon ride and reveal. She exclaimed amidst my tears and disbelief at the 5 a.m. event, “Now you know everything and it all makes sense, huh.” (I imagine Jesus is hugging her right now saying those same words) Six years later, while my husband was in NICU with our first born son, Rose Marie stayed by my side to make sure the medical staff took proper care of me. I might not have had the chance to meet my new born son, if someone had not been there to call for help when I couldn’t say the words myself. Ten years after that incident, I did voice, “help.” She and Jerry dropped everything and frantically drove 400 miles north to comfort Matt and I and our two younglings through Matt’s career crisis and my 22 week pregnancy loss. I saved the card she and Jerry gave to us which said, “When you hurt, we hurt.” I cherish the fact that Rose Marie never quit loving us even when we moved 8 hours away from her.

There are so many other chapters to add to this short story, but the moral of each tale remains that Rose Marie left us a day in, day out, year after year, never give up, legacy of love for her Heavenly Father, for her life partner Jerry, for her family, and for the people around her. We cherish her legacy. We cherish her story. We look forward to sharing eternity with our heavenly family soon.

We love you forever
We love you for always
As long as we're living
Our Nana you'll be

I love you Rose Marie!

Heather