My mom was the strongest woman I have ever known. She raised two children on her own without any type of assistance. She worked hard in order to provide a good home for my brother and me. She was kind, lovely, gentle woman and never said a unkind word about anyone. All of my good qualities, I attribute to my mom. My strength, independence, my morality and ethics, my life values, she gave them all to me. She had been successfully fighting, and winning, the battle against pancreatic cancer since 2007 and had been off of chemo since early 2008 until the spring of this year. She started back on chemo in February and was doing okay until her last chemo treatment. She couldn't hold down food and was admitted into the hospital, where she was doing better after a few days. Unexpectedly, she went into cardiac arrest and slipped away from us. My mom fought this ugly illness for over 5 years, and never once complained. Ever. She lived her retirement years in joy and happiness, and continued love. She was able to spend the last 13 years of her life watching her grandson grow from a small child to an adult that graduated from high school. She lived 15 minutes from my brother, his wife, and my nephew so she enjoyed the years of her retirement in the nice, warm weather of Florida.