Isabella Mondo

My mom was a wife, mother, sister and grandmother.

My mom and dad met when they were 15 and 17 years old. They married at the ages of 19 and 21. Shortly after they were married my father was drafted to the Korean War. My mom was pregnant with their first child and she gave birth while my father was overseas. His name was Peter and he was born severely mentally retarded. My father did not get to see Peter until he returned home and Peter was 10 months old. After seeing many specialists on Peter’s condition there was nothing that could have been done for him. Taking care of a handicapped child at such a young age was difficult but they had a lot of help from siblings and my grandmother.

Eight years later my brother Michael was born and then 13 months after that I (Lisa) was born. My

parents wanted my brother and I to have a very normal childhood even though they were caring for a handicapped boy. We went on many family vacations and day trips and spent time together as a family should. My mother was a very warm and loving person and all that mattered to her was her family and providing as best a life as possible.

As time went on mom took on a fulltime job with the Dime Savings Bank and worked for 10 years until retirement age. Her and my dad retired and moved to Norwell MA to be with my brother and his family. They helped take care of his 4 children while him and his wife were at work. Shortly after their move to MA my brother Peter’s health was declining and he passed away at the age of 46.

My parents traveled as much as they could they went to Italy twice also went to London, Paris and a few cruises.

As time went on and they got older some health issues surfaced. At the age of 91 my father was diagnosed with stage 4 Prostate Cancer. The doctors told him his life expectancy would be 7 months. And 7 months later my father passed away from the prostate cancer which had spread to his bones.

My mother had to endure her son Peter passing away and then my father. No parent should ever lose a child and when her husband passed it was to much to bare.

At the age of 89 (shortly after my father passed away) she moved to SC with my husband and I. She was reluctant to move but she could not live in MA alone with no one to help her. She to was in poor health she had hip surgery in 2017 and she had breast cancer in 2018. She lived with us for 6 months and then she decided she wanted to live on her own. She moved out to a brand new independent living facility 6 minutes away from us. She absolutely loved it she made new friends and she did activities and she was living a full life the first time in a long while. She was very happy with the new life she made for herself.

After living at the independent building for 10 months mom took a bad fall. She was rushed to the hospital where they found several things wrong. They found her blood oxygen was very low and that she also had viral pneumonia. They also discovered sign of dementia. The doctor called me and told me that she could not live alone anymore. Once released from the hospital she went to live at the assisted building across the street from the independent building. She fell several more times after that and the dementia progressed further not to mention she had Covid twice.

Age related dementia is what took my mother’s life and watching her deteriorate in front of me each day was heartbreaking. I told my mother how much I loved her and we talked about the good times in our lives and spending it together and as a family. I told her she was the best mom in the world and that I would miss so very much but she’s with my dad now and they are dancing to the Frank Sinatra songs they loved.

RIP mom I will be thinking of you every single day.

I love you.