Generally my mom was the hardest working person I have ever known. Although not one to talk a lot she showed her love through her heartfelt home-cooked food, baking, sewing, canning, gardening and ability to not let anything go to waste (material, food, etc). She was always willing to make themed quilts such as the ones she made for me revolving around a military/patriotic theme.

She was never one to complain and preferred the simple life. She was a faithful working partner for her husband, always going to work even though she had a lifelong medical condition that took a toll on her energy levels.

As a typical mother, she had the ability to sense when something was wrong with her children before they communicated it to her.

By: Jon, Corrine’s son

My mom kept busy every single day of her life. She was always in the kitchen cooking, baking or canning the fresh produce from her and my dad’s wonderful garden. It was true, no one ever went hungry when my mom was around . She was well known for her home-made caramel rolls, “Sloppy Grammas” (sloppy joes) and her yummy scalloped potatoes.

She kept busy doing yard work with my dad, undertaking multiple sewing projects, reading mysteries and creating happy memories with her grand-kids.

Every time anyone in my family sees a hummingbird, we think of her. A hummingbird is a symbol of her ever-present energy, as well as her peace, love and happiness.

By: Jodi & Holly, Corrine’s daughters

Our mom was on a leisurely bicycle ride with family on one Sunday evening not far from her house, when she suddenly fell off her bicycle and hit her head on the pavement. She was not wearing a helmet.

She was transported to the local hospital then airlifted to HCMC late that same Sunday evening. At HCMC, we waited for news of her condition. Shortly after being escorted to the ICU floor, our family was told by a team of doctors there was nothing they could do medically for our mom, she was brain dead.

In our sorrow, we went to see our mom in her ICU room. It was hard to identify her, as her head was bandaged and she was hooked up to multiple machines keeping her body alive.

The thought of donation of our mom’s gifts did not occur to us until the ICU nurse told us it was a possibility. From there we waited for a LifeSource person to come talk to us about donation. At this time, it was 2 or 3 Monday morning, a short amount of time had passed since our mom’s accident happened.

Our mom was not a registered donor on her license. We are not sure why she didn’t check the box. We never talked about donation as a family. Possibly our mom didn’t think she was a healthy enough due to her diabetes and her age (58). We will never know.

The nice lady from LifeSource answered all of our questions about donation. The decision for our mom’s gifts to help others in need was up to us.

As a family we reflected on our mom’s life. She was always giving of herself each and every day. Why not share her gifts with others?
We decided “YES”. Wouldn’t our mom want to help others, the answer is “Yes, of course” she would.

The gifts of our mom’s liver and kidney went to a lady in her early 60s. The gift of her other kidney went to a young man in his mid 30s. Her gifts of tissue have helped numerous people across the U.S.

There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t miss our mom.

However we are blessed knowing her gifts helped so many in need.

By: Holly, Corrine’s youngest daughter