Masako S. (Mariko) From Obituary

Masako (Mariko) S. From, age 78, passed away December 29, 2007, at Jennie Edmundson Hospital following a long illness.

Masako was preceded in death by her husband, Glen E. From in 1968. She was born in Hagi, Japan in 1929 and married Glen E. From in 1956, who was stationed at Offutt AFB after a brief stint in Japan. Masako lived in Council Bluffs since 1968, was selflessly devoted to her five children and eleven grandchildren, and will be greatly missed by all.

She is survived by sons, Steven and Stanley From; daughters, Sandra From, Susan From, all of Council Bluffs, Sharen Vermule of Omaha; seven grandchildren; 4 great grandchildren; one sister and one brother in Japan.

Visitation with the family, Wednesday, 6-8 p.m. at Cutler-O'Neill-Meyer-Woodring Funeral Home. Funeral service, Thursday, 1:00 p.m. at the mortuary. Interment Memorial Park Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to American Cancer Society or Arthritis Foundation.

To go to the obituary on the web click HERE.

Visit the guest book for the obituary HERE.

To my wonderful mother

It is too hard right now to fully accept that she is gone from this earth. Too hard to bear the thought I will never see her beautiful face. So for now I will post this in her memory.........................................................................................................................God looked around His garden and found an empty place. He then loked down upon this earth,and saw your tired face. He put his arms around you and lifted you to rest. God's garden must be beautiful, He always takes the best. HE knew that you were suffering, He knew you wer in pain, He also knew in Heaven, you would never hurt again. HE saw the road was getting tough, and the hills harder to climb, so He closed your weary eyelids and whispered peace be thine. It broke our hearts to lose you, but you didn't go alone, for part of us went with you, the day God called you home. If tears could build a staircase, and memories a lane, we'd walk all the way to Heaven and bring you home again. I love and miss you so much, your daughter Sharen

A Last Kiss...

Last night we got to give great grandma Masako, grandma Masako, and (to the rest) mom kisses for the last time. At 12:23 AM, Masako past on comfortably and quietly.

Caden, Holly, and I (Cecil) were at dinner with my brother Josh, his fiance Amy, and my nephew Cameron. Some time around 8:00 PM Josh received a phone call from our mother saying that Masako was probably not going to make it home today like we initially thought. We had just paid for dinner so we rushed out the door. We made it to the hospital within 10 minutes. They said she was in a coma.

Once Caden saw Masako, he wanted to give her kisses. Every time that we visited, he wanted to give her kisses. I picked him up and he gave her hugs and kisses. After letting her hear Caden and Cameron playing around we decided that it wasn't best for the kids to be there, so Holly took Caden home and my mother-in-law Debbie stayed with him.

Her heart rate was around 81 bpm when we got there and it slowly started to decline over the hours. We started talking to her and asking her questions...and she started responding. We took it as a sign that she could hear and understand us. We asked if she wanted some ice and she would reply, "Yes." Since she was talking we all were giving her kisses and telling her that we love her. My mother gave her a kiss and said, "I love you Mommy-san." Masako whispered, "I love you too." My uncle Steve went next and he got the same whisper. I gave her a kiss and told her that I love her and she belted, "I love you too!" The whole room heard her say it. This made us all start to cry. Now my uncle is a little jealous since I got a loud reply.

She held on for a few more hours and we could tell when she was passing because her heart rate was erratic, so we said our final goodbyes.

We will miss you grandma!!!