Vera Emma Sedivy

December 9,1945 – March 5, 2006

Vera Sedivy was my mother and an inspiration to her family, friends and all who knew her throughout her life and long battle with Ovarian Cancer. She never let adversity stand in her way, whether it was leaving her native Czechoslovakia with a 2 year-old in tow in 1968 or leaving Australia 3 years later for the unknown promised land of America or moving to the “Deep South” from New York or battling this deadly disease.

She was first diagnosed in 1996, just after learning that her first granddaughter was on the way. Although anxious, she was determined to survive and see her family grow. After 5 clean years, we were all devastated to learn the monster was back but she vowed to fight on. And fight she did for 5 more years before gracefully succumbing at home just after her 60th birthday.

Her greatest fear was not death but being forgotten. How naïve. There is not a day that goes by when I do not think of her and miss her deeply. She left a husband of 41 years who is a far better man today after watching her example and dignity in life. She left a son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren who still laugh about the “fun times with Grandma” and share the loss. She left a brother who wonders what happened to his little sister and a mother who would gladly have traded places. She may have left our physical world, but she will never leave our hearts.

Robert Sedivy