If you ever needed a volunteer or help in any way, my Mother (Mrs. Joan Brzeski) was there and she showed up early and stayed late to make sure things ran smoothly. Mom loved to do things the right way and she would give all of herself to make things come out the right way, be neat, clean, and successful.

In later years, Mom was so into helping others I would make sure I told my Mother I wouldn't eat until she sat down. I don't think I had ever seen her sit down and eat when her food was still hot as she was too busy serving up food to everyone else. Most of the time, she barely ate and was off to do the dishes and put the food away others had just eaten.

That's what Mom was all about, giving herself up to help others. If there are words to describe my Mother, it would be a giver, helper, loyal, thankful, friendly, compassionate, and most of all, caring.

Mom was happy to see others happy. Mom loved giving presents when the money was there to buy them for others. I asked my Mother once why she was always playing with and touching the presents, she bought for people. Mom looked at me with a smile and said, "I can't wait to see their face when they open this; I know they're going to like it."

That's what Mom was all about.

One time, Lane Tech's athletic director Hugo Pretzel was looking for parents at a football game (I was in the game) to volunteer on a hot summer day to sell Lane Tech merchandise. Guess who volunteered? You guessed it, my Mom!!!

Though Mom didn't pace herself because she thought she needed to ask everyone in the Lane stands to buy something to help out and raise money, this led to her getting heat exhaustion. Thanks to Coach Pretzel that saw my Mom in trouble and helped her at this time and made sure Mom got to a cool space with plenty of fluids. When we came home together after the game, Mom told me what had happened. I asked her if she was OK and why she was doing it (selling stuff). Mom simply said "I wanted to help you kids. I don't know much about football; this was my way of helping Lane I felt like I wasn't doing anything by just sitting there ."

That's what Mom was all about.

Mom never made a lot of money to help support our family, but she was a loyal, hardworking, and giving employee just as she was as a wife, mother, daughter, sister-in-law, aunt, neighbor, parishioner, parent's club member, and friend.

I once asked my Mother if it bothered her that almost everyone else had nicer things, more success, and more money than her. Mom said, "I think we (Mom and my father Buddy) did pretty good. We didn't have a mentor or someone to help give us advice or help us with money. But we always paid our bills and made things nice for you kids (my sister Bonnie and myself) and we made sure you two had somewhere to live, eat and were taken care of by your father and me.

When her father, mother, mother-in-law, and my Dad became ill, who was there to help, take buses into bad neighborhoods, do lawn work and laundry, cook for them and make meals for the week, go shopping for them, and just be there for them? It was Mom.

After my Dad passed away in 2002, Mom and I lived together all but one year. We did so for various reasons, the main reason we were mother and son but also best friends, and we took care of each other. Everything was the same old, same old until In June 2022. This is when the sh*t hit the fan, and Mom found out she had lung cancer after a simple trip to the doctor to get approval for her to have cataract surgeries on her eyes.

Mom was being sent all over the place for tests, procedures, screenings, and so on.

Through it all, Mom seemed to be putting up a good fight. She had two cataract surgeries, so successful that her vision went from 20-60 to 20/30, and she even made it through her first chemotherapy cycle with seemingly no issues. However, the second cycle is what most likely killed her, especially as one part of the therapy is something called immunotherapy (it fights cancer while using your immune system but weakens your body's ability to fight infections and diseases).

Before her cancer treatment started, Mom and I had a long conversation about what should be done if she's put on machines to keep her alive. Mom told me to have them take her off the machines as that's no way to live. Mom also hoped people would remember her for the person she was, a good person, and not the illness that took her life

Mom lost her pulse in my arms around 1 pm on Sunday, October 30th. She was revived twice, once by the CFD paramedics and once in the ER. Unfortunately, Mom went without oxygen to her brain for too long and ended up unconscious until Tuesday, November 8th, when I abided by her wishes and had the medical team take her off the ventilator THANK GOD for my prayers, and that of many people were answered, and Mom passed away 5-7 minutes later.

The last nine days of my Mom's life were hard to witness. That wasn't what my Mom was all about.

Mom did get to do some things, even if she might not have been awake to see and experience them. Mom was able to make it through the Full Moon (both of us believe shaking money at the moon brings good luck), watch a Bears with me as we did for the last 19 years for every game, get the extra hour of sleep on Sunday from the clock change (Mom's sleeping day was Sunday), and Mom was able to watch her last episode of her favorite TV game show, Wheel of Fortune.

My Mom or me may not know many of you that are reading this and know of the great things Mom did for others in her life. Hopefully, that alone doesn't stop you and others from helping my Mom now and helping to give my Mother (Mrs. Joan Brzeski) the proper sendoff and be able to leave this world being treated with respect and dignity.

Thank you,

Walter 'Butch' Brzeski

son of Mrs. Joan Brzeski