Mayor Ray Coles: We lost my mom Noreen on Friday. Well, we really lost her many months ago as Alzheimer’s slowly stole her away.

I volunteered to select the pictures to display at her service tomorrow. I spent all afternoon Friday pouring through literally thousands of family photos spanning 70 years or so.

What struck me most was her smile She was smiling in every picture I found of her. Not just posed pictures, but random shots, many of which I’m sure she didn’t know were being taken. If she had, we may never have seen them!

Watching her life progress from the mid-1950’s when she married Dad to a couple Christmas’s ago, holding Gwenn, her second great-grandchild, brought back the mom I thought was gone forever.
It brought me back to the Catskill Game Farm in the mid-60s, when we watched as a goat was eating her purse while she laughed along with us, completely unaware of why my sisters and I were laughing so hard.

I found a moment I was unaware of, the look of joy on her face as she gazed at my firstborn, Caitlin, through the nursery window.

Dancing with Dad on their 50th and so many many more.

The pain of her loss is still fresh, but seeing the still images of her paint a picture of a life well lived, a life full of happiness and love gave me a sense of peace which I hope will carry us as we adjust to life without her.

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Article courtesy The Lakewood Scoop