Happy Birthday Mom

"Oh happy day!" -Edwin Hawkins Singers

Happy Birthday Mom - you would have been 82 years old today in the natural. But please be assured you are 82 years old in my heart today. Love Joe

Pancreatic Cancer

"God gave us memories that we might have roses in December." ~J.M. Barrie

Today marks the one year anniversary of my mother's passing away from Pancreatic Cancer. It is a day that our family carries in our hearts because Mom gave us so much during her final days. One thing she said that resonates with me to this day is, "Prayer was here for us before we knew what prayer was for."

To me it means that God is looking out for us even if we are unaware of it. I add my mother to that as well. She is looking out for each of us now from a greater place.

Today also marks the end of my one year tribute to her fight against Pancreatic Cancer. I have worn the following band for the full year, never taking it off, serving as a reminder of the strength she had.


I will remove this one and keep it in a special place of memories of my mother. I will obtain a new one and wear it at times and continue my efforts to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer research. All I'm asking for at this point is enough money to help researchers find a method of early detection. There are no methods of detecting this cancer early. This means that by the time it is detected, the chances of survival are greatly diminished.

So in that effort, my wife and I will be running in the PurpleStride Atlanta 2009 5K Run to raise research dollars again this year. This events primary purpose is to raise money for research and to raise awareness of Pancreatic Cancer. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States—and has the highest mortality rate of all the major cancers.

This year, 42,470 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and 35,240 will die from the disease. The number of new cases and deaths caused by this deadly disease are increasing not decreasing. By 2030 the number of cases is projected to increase by 55%. The facts are undeniable, we need early detection and a path to a cure.

You can help by supporting our run and donating dollars to TEAM ROSE today. I thank you, my wife Laura thanks you and the Primm family thanks you.

Love you Mom. -Joey

Lessons Learned

Bear with me as I bring myself back around to writing again. I arrived on Tuesday, October 7th to be with my family as we helped our mother in her final days. They are days I will write about and days that will not soon be forgotten

The stories she told us and lessons learned in those days will become clear. My writing will be a release for me and also a way to impart some of her wisdom into your lives. I have learned to be content with my circumstances through out the years. Much of that I owe to my mother.

As I complete these last few days helping my father start to rearrange his life, I know that my sister and brothers will all be there to brighten his days. Each of us will cherish his remaining days and in knowing that our mother rests with angels.

_

Gone From Our Sight

Gone From My Sight
by Henry Van Dyke

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone"

Gone where?

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"

And that is dying...

_

Passing Of A Loved One

Rose Marie Primm
(January 27, 1931 - October 14, 2008)

Rose Marie Primm, 77, of Fremont died Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008, in Fremont, Nebraska.

Rose Marie Gale was born Jan. 27, 1931, in Hawarden, Plymouth County, Iowa, to Ralph F. and Josephine R. (Boden) Gale. She was schooled in Akron, Iowa, and Sioux City, Iowa, graduating from Sioux City Central in 1948. She married William L. “Bill” Primm of Elk Point, S.D., on Sept. 26, 1949, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Akron, Iowa. They moved to the Fremont and Cedar Bluffs area in 1951.

She was credit manager and store manager during 19 years of employment at Philips Department Store at Fremont Mall from 1967 to 1986. She was also an active member of Credit Women’s International, Altrusa, Crimestoppers and the Personnel Managers Association. She also lived in Elk Point for 15 years, working as a county social worker, a charter member of the Union County Historical Society and was a 30-year genealogist.

Surviving her is her husband of 59 years, Bill; daughter, Pam; sons, Jeff, Jim (and wife, Jeanine Helen) of Fremont, Jerry (and wife, Linda) of Omaha, John (and wife, Karin) of Gillette, Wyo., and Joe (and wife, Laura) of Buford, Ga. She is the proud and loving grandmother of 19 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She also has several nieces, nephews, sisters-in-law, dear cousins, Aunt Sylvia and many friends.

Preceding her in death were daughter, Patricia (Primm) Goeschel; parents, Ralph and Josephine Gale; and brothers, Gerald, Arnold and Arthur.

A memorial service was held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, October 17 at Moser Memorial Chapel in Fremont. The Rev. Ron Battiato of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Fremont officiated. Burial took place on Saturday, October 18 in Elk Point, SD. Her wishes were for her cremains to be buried in the Elk Point cemetery family plot and at her favorite ancestral area of Cobh, Ireland, near the Celtic Sea.

Memorials may be donated to Pancreatic Cancer Research or Diabetes Research funds.