WWTBAM Bored

My 1st cousin Cindy Knapek passed away peacefully on Christmas Eve. She was diagnosed with ALS in November 2021 and shortly thereafter, maybe two or three months, moved into private home care where she spent the last 35 months bedridden, unable to take care of herself. For the first year or so she could still communicate verbally and use her hands to do Facebook, then over time she gradually lost use of her hands and would have her caretaker respond to posts (likes, short comments, etc.) based on her instructions. Then she lost her ability to speak, and eventually this past spring or early summer, her ability to even open her eyes. I visited her three times over the past three years, the last time in 2023. Even as the disease progressively took her body from her, muscle by muscle, she remained joyful, never complaining, or feeling sorry for herself. She was very strong in her faith, that she was destined for eternal life in a glorified body, and that her time here was short in comparison.

Her husband passed away suddenly nine years ago, so I believe Cindy got her Christmas wish this year, to spend this Christmas with him.

I can only hope that if I were ever to get such a degenerative, slow to kill disease, that I could handle it with the grace Cindy did.

Cindy Bessire Knapek, August 6, 1960 to December 24, 2024

Sorry to hear that, BiT. Condolences to you and the rest of her family.

ALS is a horrible disease. Even though she couldn't communicate, she knew you and the rest of her family were there for her, and that must have given her comfort in those last months.

A beautiful eulogy BiT.

I can't even imagine. Thank you for sharing.

I'm sorry for your family's loss.<hugs>