My Mother Died

I have not written for many weeks because my mother died last month. Here is how her obituary read in the June 16 edition of her local newspaper:

Margarete _____, born in _______, Germany, February 18, 1923, died peacefully at the age of 84 on the morning of June 15 after a long illness. She was preceded in death by her husband Alexander, and is survived by her only, and devoted child, Christina Maria, as well as many friends, who loved her dearly. Margarete became a nurse in Germany before World War II, and met her American soldier husband soon after the war, at the 279th American Station Hospital in Berlin, Germany when she nursed him back to life after a near-fatal parachute accident. She immigrated with Alexander to the United States in 1950, and became a citizen shortly thereafter. Margarete worked for almost four decades as an obstetrical nurse and in management in surgery at _______Hospital, where she was a member of one of the first open heart teams in the country. She leaves to all those who share her profession a legacy of valuing quality nursing care. She strove for excellence in every life endeavor; she was an avid golfer, tended to her gorgeous gardens, and created intricate needlework of every kind. Her friends remember Margarete for her sense of humor, her stunning attractiveness, her love of beauty, and her determination. Her pithy wisdom included such observations as, “The entire world would be different if, when men and women had sex, neither would know which one could become pregnant.” She will continue to inspire all those whose lives she has touched.