Our Sweet Rosemary

August 24, 2015Loverosemarylambert

First and foremost, thank you. Our family has been shown such unwavering love and support not only in the last few days but over the course of our struggle with Rosemary’s ALS diagnosis and we appreciate it more than we can say. Truly, thank you.

Secondly, below are the details regarding Rosemary’s celebration. If you’re in Muskegon on Friday, you’re welcome to join us in celebrating the life of our sweet Rosemary.

Rosemary Lambert, age 59, passed away on Saturday morning, August 22, 2015, at her home on Muskegon Lake surrounded by her family. She was born on July 22, 1956 in Muskegon, Michigan to Floyd and Rose Marie (Kraus) Beckman. On November 24, 1978 she married Mark Lambert who survives her. She attended college at Central Michigan University and then went on to work in marketing at Transnation Title for 27 years, retiring in 2010. Rosemary loved Broadway musicals, candlelit dinners with her loved ones, hiking in Muskegon State Park, Lake Michigan sunsets and photography. Following her ALS diagnosis Rosemary started rosemarylambert.com, a blog on which she shared stories about her life, photos she’d taken and honest and raw words about faith and dying. In addition to Mark, her husband of 36 years, Rosemary is survived by her children, Chad Lambert of Dallas, TX, Kelly (Christopher) Ufnal of Muskegon, Corey Lambert of San Francisco, CA, and Bryan Lambert of Muskegon; 3 grandchildren, Cole and Peyton Lambert, and Harrison Ufnal; 1 brother, Jim (Janet) Beckman; 5 sisters, Judy (Gordon) Grimm, Joan Roberts, Deb (Steve) Neinas, Vikke (Bob) Longcore, and Mary (Jim Bozell) Carlson; and many nieces and nephews. Rosemary was preceded in death by her parents, a sister, Jean Morris; and brother, Mick Beckman. THE MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL will be held at 2:00pm on Friday, August 28, 2015 at Prince of Peace Catholic Church (1100 Dykstra Road) with Rev. Fr. Tony Pelak as Celebrant. There will be a one-hour visitation prior to the mass. A CELEBRATION OF LIFE will be held on Friday evening, August 28, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm at Bella Maria’s Ristorante & Event Center (513 West Pontaluna Road). Interment will be made in Laketon Township Cemetery. MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS may be made to the Rosemary Lambert Memorial Fund c/o The Community Foundation for Muskegon County. MEMORIES OF ROSEMARY can be shared with her family in the comments section of her blog (rosemarylambert.com).

My Poor Tongue (Part Two)

August 21, 2015ALS, Friends, Loverosemarylambert

I woke up the next morning feeling relieved that I didn’t have any more tongue-biting incidents. As my day rolled on I started to get nervous about the upcoming night because we didn’t yet have a solution for my problem. Earlier in the day Kelly searched the Internet hoping to find some answers and she found many but nothing I was willing to try. The more we talked about it the more anxious I got. Bryan suggested that we call our good friend Eric Sesselmann who has been a well-respected dentist in Muskegon for many years with the thought that he could recommend a simple solution we could try. Eric was out of town but said he would check on me in a couple of days when he returned home. Bryan then thought to call one of his best friends, Jessica Bodenberg, who just graduated from dental school and is now working in Muskegon at her family’s dental practice, Great Lakes Dental Excellence. Jessica said she would ask her family of physicians if they had any ideas and she would get back to us. That night I slept with my head facing up towards the ceiling and had no tongue biting issues.

The next morning Bryan called with excitement in his voice and said Jessica and her aunt Shelly would be stopping by to help us. When they arrived they made an impression of my teeth and said they would be back tomorrow with the finished product. The next day doctors Jessica and Shelly came with the finished bite splints. The splints fit perfectly and I no longer bite my tongue during the night. As a added bonus when I yawn my top teeth no longer crash down on my bottom teeth. Before they left, Shelly ground and polished my jagged front teeth.

Thank you Eric, Shelly and Jessica. We will never forget this.

My Poor Tongue (Part One)

August 18, 2015ALS, Fuck, Liferosemarylambert

Last week during the night I was jolted awake because my tongue was sandwiched between my tightly clenched upper and lower jaws and I thought I was going to bite it off. Somehow I was able to wake Mark up and make him understand that my tongue was lodged between my teeth. Mark tried to pry my locked jaw open and finally my lower jaw gave a little so I could pull my tongue out. It’s a good thing I was wearing my upper bite splint otherwise I’m sure I would have bitten my tongue off. I was so relieved to have my tongue back in my mouth so I could go back to sleep but then my jaw locked up again and again, trapping my tongue between my teeth each time. By that point I was afraid to go back to sleep so I asked Mark to get me up and into my chair. It was only three in the morning and I knew I wouldn’t be able to sit in my chair for the rest of the night so I reluctantly got back into bed. I slept for the rest the night with my head up hoping that gravity would keep my tongue in my mouth and it worked. There was no more tongue biting that night and I was relieved but then I thought to myself ‘What’s next? What more can ALS take from me?’.

Our Prince of Peace Family

August 11, 2015Faith, Family, Friendsrosemarylambert

I miss our Prince of Peace family.

Barb Perri religiously brings us Communion every week which is really nice but I miss going to mass. The Lambert and the Beckman families have been members of that parish from the very beginning, forty years or so, and it’s where all of our kids were baptized, received their First Holy Communion, Reconciliation and were confirmed. Kelly and Chris were married in that church and Harrison was baptized there. Our friends from the church helped us plan beautiful funeral celebrations for my parents, my brother, my sister, my aunts and a close friend. And now they are helping me plan mine.

What I miss the most about not going to church is seeing and talking to people. I miss catching up with friends after mass at coffee and donuts. We’ve formed some pretty strong bonds over the years because our families grew up together. Our Prince of Peace family has helped us with so many things, but the most significant was helping us plan and execute a very successful benefit dinner for my sister Jean who had leukemia. We gained a lot of new friends during that time and we are very grateful. Even if we don’t know your name we love all of our friends at Prince of Peace and we will never forget you.

May God continue to bless us all.