"It's not the years in your life, but the life in your years" Benjamin Franklin

Barbara's story as told by her daughters:

Our mother was one of the most generous people in the world, she would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. On April 21, 2003 she entered Fairbanks Memorial Hospital because she could not go to the bathe room, had chills, a fever, and could not breathe. A couple hours later, after x-rays and shots of pain medicine they took her stat to the operating room to remove parts of her skin, layers upon layers of her skin. Her skin had turned a dark purplish color, it was dying, the rest of her body was going into shock. She came out of the surgery and was in a coma for about two weeks.

Once she regained consciousness she was very unaware of what happened to her. Her mind was confused and her reality was off the charts. For awhile, we all had hope that she would come home to us, however, the more time went on, the more pain she was in. We prayed and prayed, and prayed some more for her to get well. Then we would go to the hospital, which we were by her side everyday, and realize her pain with her, through the dressing changes, showers, and physical therapy she endured, day after day. Some days, the prognosis was good, other days it was the worst. Sometimes it depended on which doctor was on call. Our hopes went up and down for three long months. Realizing how much pain she was going through, all the torture and tests, and her pleadings of wanting to go home, we finally started to pray for just that. "God, please help our mother, take this pain away, and keep her close to you at all times."

We stopped being selfish and started to look at what was best for her, and that was for her to no longer have to endure all the pain just to make us happy. She made us happy everyday of our lives for many, many years. Now it is her turn to be happy and restful, at peace by God's side. We miss our mother very, very much and hope to give another family hope again after the loss of their loved one.

"You must do the things you think you cannot do" Eleanor Roosevelt