Mother's Day without a mother

This is the first time in over four decades that I don't have a mother on Mother's Day. Mom's name was Agnes Johnson. She was sixty-four.

We admitted her to Fort Sanders Hospital in Knoxville on January 26. The doctors did everything they could to save her but they were unsuccessful. They gave her a hysterectomy and amputated her left leg. They tried to wean her off the respirator a few times but they were unable to.

On March 4 my brother and I had to make a hard and painful decision. We decided to have her taken off the respirator. We did that because she couldn't get better and she was suffering.

She died 1 or 2 AM on March 6. When I woke, I saw that she had passed. I hope nobody else has to make the same decision that we did.

Mom was a very special person. For several years she gave money to the homeless and to the Oral Roberts Ministry. She also gave 15-20 giant print bibles to people.

Let me give you an example of how nice she was. When I was at kmart in 1979, I had enough money to buy one record. I was looking at two records and was trying to decide which one to buy. Here came Mom and bought one of the records for me so I could have both. That act of kindness is something I'll always remember.

Mom truly cared about others. Most people who met her, liked her. She was a great mom and a great person. May she rest in peace.