When I posted about the Pisgah Stage race last week I made mention to the enormity of some things. When I wrote that post we were at the early stages of some family health issues taking a turn for the worse. In truth it wasn’t the beginning, the basis of these issues has been going on for longer than I’ve known Katie’s family. However it was truly becoming dire. A few days after I made that post my mother in law passed away. These past few weeks have been tough on all of us and particularly hard on Katie who’s relationship with her mother was unlike too many others I’ve ever seen.

When most people talk about their mother in law it’s rarely in a positive light, well that is almost the opposite of the my situation. My mother in law is one of the most amazing women I’ve ever met and her relationship with her daughter (my wife) is one that I will always admire. My mother in law, Lisa, is selfless, caring, kind, funny, smart, and this could go on with almost any adjective you want to use that’s pleasant. Now of course she has her quirks and things that I’ll never fully understand. However I think that is a good thing, differences and quirks are what make the world go round.

A few years back we found out that the cancer we thought she had beaten was back. The treatments started and they were able to keep things at bay for a while. Outwardly it was hard to ever tell anything was wrong. A woman so strong willed and so very private. For those close you could see some evidence of the fight but never ever hear a complaint. After a few years I started to understand the situation a little more and as I continued to learn more and more I started to realize what it all meant. With all that being said I’ve never seen someone quite so small with so much fight and there have been times when we thought maybe she’s the exception.

Losing a friend is hard, losing a parent may be harder, but losing your best friend and your Mother at the same time is kind of impossible. Yet it is the situation that we’re currently in. Thinking about our kids growing up without their Nana to provide her influence is something that I hate to think about. While I know that we’ll do our best to provide her influence and keep her memories going she had a way with the kids that is unmatched.

Over the years She’s provided me with all kinds of inspiration. So many times I’ve found myself thinking about her in races or long rides when I don’t think I can keep going. I end up thinking about how hard she’s fought, how happy she always was just to be hanging out with the kids, and then suddenly my struggles in a bike race don’t seem so bad.

I still can’t believe she isn’t here, we lost one amazing woman, but I know she’ll always be looking over our family.

The full obituary can be found here.