were settled in their brand new shiny white painted house. They had both made friends including me in the neighborhood. It had been about 4 years and Don had started to get sick. One night I remember Don at our front door saying something I didn't understand. My mom called the police immediately and 10 minutes later Don was laying on our couch with the the police at our house. Don was taken to the hospital an hour later. I was in Disney world when we got a heartbreaking call that he had died. Just think, now Bernice was all alone. All she had were her sisters who were about the same age as her. Bernice had said,
"I'm glad God took him before me because Don couldn't handle the pain of losing me". Bernice always had a strong faith. She took everything in a good way. Most people would not be able to handle the grief. Even though she missed Don everyday she always looked at the bright side. She was now 93 years old. Bernice now had to start a whole new life. After all of the arraignments for Don were done she had to figure out what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.
Bernice ended up moving back to Dearborn. She moved to a senior residence called Oakwood Commons. She made tons of friends again and the good part was she could visit them anytime! Every Saturday she would get her hair done downstairs where she lived. I remember always going to visit and she would tell me let's go downstairs and get ice cream . Bernice would always get mint chocolate chip ice cream. I would always get sorbet. Bernice began to get sicker through the months. I recall driving to Detroit and she made the decision to move to hospice. They said she would live for another 3 months. Four days later I woke up and couldn't fall asleep. I heard the TV on so I shut my door and went back to sleep. That night I had a dream of Bernice giving me hug and saying "Goodbye". Bernice died at the same time I had the dream on July 14th of 2011. Bernice was always a strong woman. She was my Michigan hero because she was always so kind and loving and unique. I always looked up to her for those great qualities. That was the saddest I had ever been in my life. I had lost a special person. Bernice showed me how to find the bright
side.