On the evening of August 24th, my mother Jamie was unexpectedly admitted to the hospital. She had suffered a bilateral stroke; a stroke that effects both sides of the brain. She was placed on a ventilator and was unresponsive. After two days of no improvement, the doctors recommended that my sisters and I move her to hospice. My mother had a morbid sense of humor, and I thought back to the multiple occasions where she would laugh and warn me not to pull the plug on her! It was all so sudden and we simply weren't ready, so we decided to wait just a little bit longer.

Against all odds, she began to respond the very next day. Over the next week, she was moved from the critical care unit, to the intensive care unit and finally to a regular unit where we could visit with her in person. She was awake, alert, could not only eat, but she could feed herself, and she had progressed from mostly nonverbal communication over FaceTime visits, to having full-blown independent conversations from the phone in her room where she clearly and vehemently conveyed her desire to "get the hell out of there!" She had a pneumonia that needed to be cleared, but once it was, she was going to be moved to a physical therapy rehab where the doctors were confident she would be walking again in "no time."

My youngest sister Alexa and I had planned to visit her on Friday, September 10th and it was on our way to the hospital that we received the call that our mother's condition had taken a turn for the worst. My mother was no longer producing her own blood, was in multiple organ failure and was not responding to treatment. When we arrived at the hospital for our visit, our mother was awake, but didn't seem focused and would not speak to us. At the time, we were unsure if she was choosing not to speak to us, but the doctors began to suspect she may have suffered another stroke.

Following our visit, she slipped into a coma. The doctor called early the next morning to let us know that he was going to move her back to the ICU, but then decided against it so that we could still visit with her. My sister Alexa and I, and our immediate family headed right over to the hospital. When we arrived, the doctor and the head nurse pulled me aside. They reassured me that they would honor our wishes, but that they highly recommended that we move her to hospice where they could make her more comfortable than they could there and where we could be with her. Covid protocols do not allow visitors to the ICU, and they believed that her return was imminent and that if moved, she would likely not come out again. So, on Saturday, September 11th, I made the heartbreaking decision to move my 54 year old mother to hospice.

Fairly recently, and out of the blue; which was her style, my mother laughed and begged me to please not cremate her when she died. Thinking that time was more than a ways away, I blew her off, laughed and promised. We always think we have more time. My mother is a fighter and is one of the strongest women I know. She has lived an incredibly difficult life and I would just like to honor her final wishes and give her a beautiful place that she can call her own where she can finally be at rest.

The money being raised here is solely for funeral home and burial costs. My mother is currently in a coma at a hospice one mile away from my home and work, and is nearly just as close to her daughter Alexa. My sister and I love having her nearby and visit her multiple times daily. My mother hated long visits and phone calls, but we and the rest of the family are keeping her company whether she likes it or not! I hope to reach our goal as soon as possible, so that when the time comes, I will have made all of the necessary arrangements.

Jamie Smith is like no other. She will leave behind three daughters: Marissa (35), Kayla (30) & Alexa (20), and two grandsons: Landon (8) & Casidy (2).

Thank you all for your support, well wishes and just for reading. Jamie is so loved and will be missed by so many.