Andrea's mom passed away early this morning. A' had spent the day with Helen, as she's been spending most of her spare hours with her for the last month or so. The care facility called about 8 last night to let her know it looked like the end was very near, so A' went back and sat with her mom until she passed at about 2:30 a.m. Her mom will be cremated and so we're able to push the funeral back to around March 1st to allow her extended family more time to make travel arrangements etc.

A' had a difficult relationship with her mother, but feels that she was able to make some peace with her the last couple years, and especially through this last, fairly quick decline. Still, keep your thoughts with my Andrea ... she pretends to be a 'brave soldier', but really she's all mush under that hard shell.