Jane's Dash

March 15, 1936 - January 19,2020

Above you see a dash between My-Favorite-Mother-In-Law's birth and death dates. We see dashes like this one by the dozens in cemeteries. When I see them, I always wonder who that person was and what they did during their time upon this earth. These dashes are small but represent the who and what of the person associated with them. 

In this post, I hope to help shed some light upon My-Favorite-Mother-In-Law's dash. You know when Jane was born but not where. Jane was born at the Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her mother worked at the hospital as a nurse.

Jane grew up in Greenfield, Indiana. She was "the only child, of an only child, of an only child"...she had always wanted siblings and when it came time for her to become a mother, she was not going to have an only child (her father told her she was done having children when her daughter was born...Jane told him it was not his business how many she had. I am grateful she also had The Colonel. When Jane's father met The Colonel for the first time, he was over-the-moon about having another grandchild).

Jane graduated from Greenfield High School in 1954. After graduation, she worked as an IBM operator at Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical Company. In 1958, she married My-Favorite-Father-In-Law, Ted of Indianapolis, Indiana. She had met Ted on a blind date. Jane and Ted were shy of nearly two months of celebrating their 61st wedding anniversary when Ted passed away on January 18, 2019 (yes, your math skills are correct...Jane passed away one year and one day after her beloved Ted).

Jane was not only an excellent role-model for wife, mother and mother-in-law, she was also one for grandmother. She was so excited when Yam was born. The Colonel's sister and her husband did not have any children and The Colonel and I were married for five years before Yam came along. She was beginning to wonder if she would only have furry grand-babies (cats). 

   

When Spud was due to arrive a couple of years after Yam, Grandma Jane was there and took care of Yam while The Colonel and I went to the hospital. After Spud arrived, she got 2-year-old Yam ready to meet her new brother at the hospital.

Both Jane and Ted were always ready and willing to help us out with the kids whenever we needed them even though we did not live near them. Yam and Spud loved to visit Gma and Gpa. We would always go to the beach for breakfast and shell gathering. The picture below happened to be a windy day at the beach. Gma, Yam and Spud were "clinging" to rail and acting silly.

When Jane and Ted started their family, Jane was a stay-at-home mother. When The Colonel and his sister were school-aged, Jane became a volunteer at Hancock Memorial Hospital in Greenfield. She was a volunteer there for 19 years. When Ted retired in 1989, he and Jane moved to Florida. They helped to build houses for Habitat For Humanity for several years. Jane helped to build 45 homes.

During Jane's lifetime (dash), she liked to paint, draw, knit, collect fossils and seeds, travel, play and watch tennis. She also loved to play games, especially word games like Scrabble and Upwords. Later, she enjoyed Sudoku and Word Searches.

Jane loved animals. During her lifetime she had over 40 cats. She enjoyed feeding the birds and squirrels in her backyard and watch them through the window.

Jane passed away peacefully, in her home, at the age of 83. The Colonel and I were at her bedside when she passed. Yam and my sister, Jennifer helped us watch over Jane before her passing. Jane had been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2016 and chose not to undergo any treatment like she did when she was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1995. She was told she had only six months to live upon diagnosis and we all were surprised and pleased that she lived as long as she did post-diagnosis without complications and pain.

The year and one day between Ted and Jane's passing were difficult for us all. Jane was very depressed and The Colonel and I were running her household as well as ours. We tried to keep Jane's familiar schedule...Walmart shopping, Dollar Store visits and lunch at The Golden Corral.

Jane was ready to go. As always, it is sad when a loved one leaves you but when you know they are ready and have lived a full and fruitful life, your grief is made easier to bear.

I was very blessed to have Jane as my mother-in-law and as my friend.