Welcome to Issue #257 of My Monday Memo
by Rachel Brandes
Quote of the Week
“When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.”
– Unknown
Today is Monday, April 28, 2025
National Superhero Day
Happily Ever After
https://www.everafterphotographypnw.com/
Ever After Photography PNW is owned and operated by photographer extraordinaire, Mira Nachtigall. Mira specializes in birth, maternity, and newborn photography.
Random Photo of the Week
New growth on an evergreen is always something fun to see. The new light green needles are super soft to the touch when they are new. Photo by Rachel.
Feline Tomfoolery
with Brady & Belichick
- Brady– Why does she torture us like this? What is in the box?
- Belichick– Open it already, human! We smell something we want.
- Brady– We are confused, it isn’t a Chewy box, but we detect something we want to eat.
- Belichick– We will sit atop this box until she gives in.
Brady (left) & Belichick (right)
- Brady– Spoiler alert, it was just our regular food, no treat. She never gives us treats. She’s mean to us and tortures us with excessive hugs and kisses. Who hugs a cat? Oh, all of you cat lovers? Wow. Ugggg.
Brady & Belichick are Rachel’s adorable felines. Brady is a short hair and very dominant and athletic, much like his namesake (Forever Patriots). Belichick, aka Beli, the long hair, was the runt of their litter and is much more passive, until provoked. These two cute boys turned one on May 4, 2024.
Mental Health Minute
Five Stages of Grief
In this issue of My Monday Memo, Rachel will discuss the recent loss of a loved one. Mentioning the Five Stages of Grief felt appropriate for this week’s Mental Health Minute. Rachel recently read a helpful article on health.clevelandclinic.org. Click the following link to read the full article. The 5 Stages of Grief After a Loss.
What are the five stages?
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
It is important to remember that there is no set timeline for grief and the process most definitely isn’t linear. Rachel has been through the grief process several times in her life and even when you think you know what to expect, you get a curveball. She found the below illustration on christianmentalhealthinnitative.org. This about sums up how her experiences have gone, and she expects nothing different this time around.
Alec’s First Half Marathon
Alec is Rachel’s youngest son who currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. He and his girlfriend, Victoria, recently ran the Salt Lake City Marathon’s Half. Both did a great job.
Long Run Day Hits 13.1 Miles
For those that have been reading about the ‘weekly long run,’ this will make more sense. If not, here is a quick summary. Jennie (pictured below in green) introduced an endurance training plan to friends that would run for 16 weeks-ish with a long outdoor run each week. Distance would be added each week until the run reached 13.1. Last week would be the 13.1 miler.
The fourth run pal, Alanna was unable to make it for this run, which left Jennie, Bill and Rachel to take on the challenge without her. It was a great overcast day with low enough temperatures to make it comfortable. The course was only slightly hilly and ended at Owen Beach in Point Defiance Park where a cold plunge of sorts would take place. Rachel was unable to withstand the cold, but Jennie and Bill held strong for 12 full minutes.
This would be the first time Rachel has run a 13.1-mile course since November of 2012. She thanks her body. And her spine surgeon. Well, she also thanks Jennie, Bill and Alanna, for without them, she wouldn’t have been motivated to keep up the progress. She wonders how she would do in a 13.1 timed race event…
Ten days ago, Rachel lost someone near and dear to her. To those of you who supported Rachel through the past seven months, and continue to support her, she thanks you from the bottom of her heart.
Celebrating Momma P
Pictured above: Rachel’s late father, Ed, who passed in 2018, and her late stepmother, Patti, who she lovingly referred to as her Momma P. This is an old photo from this cute couple’s early days. Momma P was the greatest at sporting the cutest hats.
As Rachel sits down to write about the recent loss of her Momma P (MP), her eyes well up with tears. After seven months in hospice, MP passed away peacefully in her sleep on Good Friday, April 18, 2025. She had just celebrated her 74th birthday a few weeks prior. She resided in O’Fallon, Missouri near her sister, Barb, for the last six years.
Who was Momma P? She was a sister, the baby sister to Mike, Larry and Barb. She was a daughter to Eleanor and Charles (and stepfather, Harold), she was a mother and friend to Rachel (we won’t use ‘stepmother’ as that has a wicked sound associated with it for some reason), she was a grandmother to Blake and Alec (Rachel’s sons), and she was a friend to so many.
Pictured above: A blurry photo for sure. An oldie from the early days. Rachel was happy that her dad found someone after nearly ten years of being single.
The biggest question everyone asks, or wants to ask, is what caused her decline and death. The biggest culprit would be COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. While MP had other health issues, during her decline, she told Rachel that the COPD was “a son of a bitch.” Yes, she was a smoker for many years but quite decades ago. Rachel’s father, another long-time smoker who had quite decades ago, was also inflicted by COPD.
How does COPD affect someone, you ask? It is a lung condition that causes damage the airway. Those with COPD essentially lose the ability to breath on their own to get enough oxygen to function.
Let’s get back to the amazingness of Momma P…
Pictured above LT to RT: Another oldie from an epic adventure courtesy of Ed (oh, how he loved the National Parks), Doug (brother-in-law) and Barb (sister), and Patti and Ed.
There will be a lot for Rachel and MP’s loved ones to remember about her when they reflect on her life. The thing that Rachel will always remember most is just how funny MP was. She was blunt, honest, strong, smart, and oh so funny. All the time.
Pictured above: One of MP’s fantastic hat choices for the holiday season, and her infectious smile.
MP was an ICU nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital in Missouri for 20 years. At one time she co-owned an exercise studio with family. She owned her own home and was a strong, independent woman with a great life all before meeting Rachel’s dad at around 40 years old. After meeting and marrying Rachel’s dad in 1991, she became a grandmother to Blake in 1995, and then Alec in 1999. MP (aka GM P, Grandma Patti) was an amazing grandmother. She always had treats in the house for the kids and was fantastically loving to them.
Pictured Top LT to RT: A holiday photo from maybe 2012, an oldie from 2002 or 2003 grandma and grandpa with Blake, and Alec in the background. Pictured Bottom LT to RT: Rachel’s son Alec on two different visits to Missouri with both of his maternal grandmothers, on the left, GM P, Alec and GM T, and on the right, GM T, Alec and GM P.
She didn’t just love her grandkids, MP loved to gamble; the slot machines were her entertainment until the pandemic hit. Puzzles were a favorite pastime, and she would always send Rachel a picture of her finished product. Speaking of things she would send Rachel… During the pandemic, she would use construction paper and decor to make full window art for passersby in her apartment complex. She had a large picture window, and her displays were big and cheerful. She would change them out regularly and received many a compliment from neighbors. Rachel loved seeing these photos in emails.
Pictured above: MP with her sister, Barb, ready to enjoy some gambling time. Notice her color coordination and the hat.
Pictured above: Some of the puzzles she shared. She was putting in some serious time on these puzzles, sometimes 1000 pieces or more.
Not only was she great at putting together puzzles and designing window art, but she also made the greatest handmade birthday and holiday cards. Rachel always looked forward to getting one of her cards and has several saved. MP would use her art supplies to create a unique card, which always came with a cute, funny message. Hallmark has nothing on her.
She was always good at making sure Rachel knew she was being thought about and loved. Once she got texting down, Rachel got some of the greatest messages.
Pictured above: A couple of text messages Rachel received. Happy Leap Year was significant, as her last name was Leap, Rachel’s maiden name. The other was just MP being MP and sending love.
Pictured above: On the left, MP and Rachel during a visit to St. Louis a few years back, and on the right, a selfie from around a decade ago.
MP and Rachel joked about being related by blood because they had so much in common. One of those things was the love of football. They both have strong feelings about NFL quarterback, Aaron Rodger. Rachel can’t stand him, and MP just loved him. MP is a lover of the NFL and all things football. She was always posted up in front of her television on Sundays ready for the games. There were so many more commonalities and many people that saw their pictures said they even resembled each other.
Thank you for reading this week’s My Monday Memo. If you made it this far, there is one more thing to mention. While tears welled up in Rachel’s eye at the start of writing, they quickly dried, and she ended up with sore cheeks from so much smiling as she remembered her Momma P. As it should be. Until next time, hug your loved ones, and be well.