Barb

Blogging has been on the back burner for some time now for me. In fact, I haven't done much since St. Patrick's Day. Part of the reason is the ongoing struggle within myself as to how much information to make "public". Our family recently came through an intensely personal and painful situation in dealing with the death of my mother-in-law, Barb. 

We found out the day after St. Patrick's Day that she was ill and in the hospital. Over the next few days, we learned that she had an aggressive liver cancer, and very little kidney function. Jim and 

I spent much of our time at the hospital for the next week and a half, along with Jim's stepdad, and sister, and brothers, all of us aware that nothing could be done. Two weeks to the day after she

was admitted to the hospital, Barb passed away. We had known of her illness for 13 days.

It's so hard to put into words what Barb meant to us. The best I can do is to share what my mom

wrote on her blog:

Barb

I lost a lovely friend tonight and we lost a part of our wonderful Ft. Wayne family. Her name was Barbara Shaffer and she was elegant, generous and fun. Elegant because she always seemed to know what was tasteful but not stuffy. Generous with her wit and inclusion. She entertained people who needed entertaining. Barb was fun with a beautiful smile and good natured zing. I will think of her every time I look into my Ft. Wayne grandchildren's eyes . They are so like hers. She was their grandmother too.