Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Teri S. Brown

On November 17, 2009, Teri Shelby Brown (57) died as she lived her life, with grace and dignity. Her loving children, Shelby, Jeremy and his wife, Naomi, accompanied and cared for her through the challenges of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and were with her during her final peaceful moments.

Teri was happily married to Scott J. Brown for 32 years until he preceded her in death in 2006. Throughout the marriage they were faithfully involved with the Grace Church family, they delighted in their children and their activities, and, oh yes, Lobo basketball.

Teri graduated from Manzano and received her BA and MA from UNM. During a 25-year career with APS she taught at Truman and Inez. Her leadership ability inspired others and she became an APS District Math Leader and an Instructional Coach at Mark Twain. In 2003 she won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics.

Along the way she played softball, made posole, led Bible studies, and shared her husband’s joy in nature. She is also survived by her father, Joe Shelby and his wife, Marge, her sisters and their husbands, Janice and Lucky Sells, Lynn and Chuck Colberg as well as caring nephews, nieces, and extended family.

A celebration of Teri’s life will be held on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 10:00 at Grace Church, 6901 San Antonio Dr. NE 87109. Memorial contributions may be made to:

Young Life – Albuquerque and sent to Grace Church or to A.P.S. Foundation-TLS Math Fund 6400 Uptown NE Ste. 420 W. Albuquerque, NM 87110 Flowers may be sent to Grace Church.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

November 17, 2009

It is done. She is free.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Cranes & Swimming


Finally, Monday came and I knew I had four precious days off. So, motivated to get the most of the time, I woke up early and got a run in. Came back and got Mom showered and myself ready. Not an easy plan of events to complete by 10am. Eventually, by about 11 we made it down to my Aunt & Uncle's and with Jeremy also we made it to the open space to see the cranes. Beautiful, the sun, the peaceful field and as Mom approached the cranes, they took off, slowly circled and flew away.


The next day, I had a work meeting and Mom got to see the hospice nurse. After the morning of activities we loaded up and made our way up to the foothills and enjoyed a very relaxing soak in the hot tub. This was the first time Mom has had a soak since she had the feeding tube placed. And thankfully the entire activity was very uneventful. To see her muscles twitching all over her body continually - it must feel so good to defy gravity in such a small way and have a slight change of perception.



Today, we finally made it to church. I had been so looking forward to this fellowship, and was challenged by the events of the morning to be able to enjoy the communion and people. Mom was so glad to see everyone and flitted around giving hugs out. So good to see her enjoy something that has always been such an important part of her life.

So often I find myself wondering what is going to happen next and will I be able to handle what I am faced with.