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| James' Mom, Allabelle Baker |
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| James' Sister, April Baker |
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| James' Parents, Buell & Allabelle Baker |
On Wednesday evening, December 8th, we received the shattering news that my mother-in-law had been rushed to the hospital. She was not breathing on her own and the emergency medical team had worked on her for over two and a half hours trying to get a heartbeat. She was barely alive, and if she did live, she would be brain dead according to the doctor due to the lack of oxygen to her brain for such a long period of time. We arrived at the hospital early Thursday morning, December 9th, where we were led into a room with my father-in-law and James' aunt along with a hospital chaplain. We knew my mother-in-law's condition must have worsened at this point. No one said much except my poor grief-stricken father-in-law as he proclaimed that mom was not going to make it. He was heartbroken! Only minutes after we arrived, the doctor came into the little room and said, "She didn't make it!" "We did all we could do." "We worked very hard." What astounding news! We had just arrived and had not even been able to visit her yet, but now she was gone! My husband was devastated! He did want to see his mom one more time before she passed on!
We were all so shocked that her death came so soon, for you see, April, James' sister had just passed away about a month and a half previous to this. She was only 39 years old, but had suffered greatly over the years from mental and physical handicaps. Now mom had passed away. She was only 68 years old! Yes, she was born with heart problems, and had many hospitalizations and procedures through the years. She had overcame all of them until this time. She was not expected to live past childhood, nor was she ever expected to have children, but she gave birth to three! I had just talked to her on the phone Wednesday night before Prayermeeting. She said she was not feeling well. She was so weak, and had been battling a bad cough. Dad had gone out to get her some cough syrup and a piece of pie for her. She said she had lost her appetite and her supper didn't sound good, but a piece of pie did. She also mentioned that she was spitting up blood. I told her she better get that checked out. It could be something serious. She said she planned to, but not that night because the emergency room was always very busy at night. She was going to wait until the next day. I told her she better not wait too long.... It wasn't long into our conversation when she told me dad had just come home with her pie and she would talk to me later. About fifteen minutes to a half hour later, dad noticed she had stopped breathing and called 911. Sadly, I would never be able to talk to her again.
We are missing my mother-in-law this Christmas, as well as April. Things are not the same this year. It honestly hasn't even seemed like Christmas, but I did complete my normal decorating just a few days before Christmas. Normally, it is up a day or two after Thanksgiving! I really wasn't in the mood! The pictures I have posted are a few of James' relatives who were present for mom's funeral.
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| James' Dad, Buell Baker |
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| Rosemary, James' sister (half), and his cousin, Michael in the background |
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| Three of James' sisters (half), Diana, Beverly, and Rosemary |
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| James with three of his sisters (half), Diana, Beverly, & Rosemary |
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| James' nephew, Chris |
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James' Uncle Dennis, cousin Sandy, & Aunt Lena |
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James' Uncle Jim and Aunt Marilyn |
