Connie's family thanks all of you for the outpouring of love and support in person and virtually. All the guestbook messages will be printed out and bound for her children along with the contents of this site. I didn't know living could ever be so hard. I'm really having trouble with how life goes on around me. It feels like the world should just stop for us to catch our breath. Of course that first breath becomes a sob and still life goes on for the living. I felt her around me yesterday when I was talking with Emily about her mom. Connie had done her best to prepare her children for this moment but she always believed she would see them grow old and meet her grandchildren. She planted a kiss in each child's palm a few months ago and closed it up and said here is a kiss from mommy, you will always have it with you whenever you need it. Emily used many of those mommy kisses yesterday. The boys are still too young to really understand. Connie was spunk. She was fight. She spent her childhood in ERs because she tackled life head on. From drinking bleach to eating poison berries, having her stomach pumped and then going right back out and eating more of them...that was Connie. She was courageous, not afraid to join God in Heaven but fought like a tiger to be here for her kids as long as possible. She endured chemo while pregnant and parenting a 1 year old and a 5 yr old and still worked a full time job. She had daily radiation for weeks. She was in constant pain and discomfort every day for at least the last year. She didn't feel pretty without her hair and she hated that kids were scared of her. She went to lunch with Emily a few weeks ago at school and the other kids started laughing saying Emily's mom is bald and she got up like a "mother hen" and went over to the table where the children were laughing and told them about how sometimes people are not bald on purpose. When Carolyn was diagnosed with Cancer, Connie prayed that God would take her soul in exchange for Carolyn's current and future pain. We believe that God answered her and chose the moment. I just wish someone had been holding her hand and telling her we loved her and it was okay to go. I hope she wasn't scared or in too much pain and if she was that the reward of eternal life with God was enough to dim that momentary fear. I know that God blessed her with relief of her pain immediately and that loved ones were there to ease her journey. She went through so much in her life. What many of you don't know is that Connie did not have custody of her boys due to being unable to care for them in her sickness. They lived with their father and she got to see them every other weekend. This was very, very hard for Connie especially this past Christmas when all she wanted was one last Christmas with her kids and she didn't get it. She cried often for her babies and this was a source of constant pain and grief for her. She soldiered through that, she met the cancer fight head on, she dealt with the medicaid issues. She rarely complained about any of it. My sister was a strong soul. She was sarcastic and testy and bitchy and sweet and sensitive and giving. She was country and she was rock and roll. And yet she was always the baby of the family. I loved her in all her forms and love her now where she sits with God. The family is meeting with the funeral home today to try to plan services for Thursday. Many people have asked about contributing for funeral expenses or a trust in lieu of flowers. You can use the same Connie Andrews Fund that was set up for medical expenses. Info is in the box above this posting. Donations will first be used for funeral expenses and any excess rolled into a trust for the children. I will post further information about services when we have it. Cristin