GERDA SCHRIDDE DOWD

Today is the anniversary of my mothers death, she died in 1995. She was born in Altona, Germany in 1923. My grandfather Willi Schridde and grandmother Anna Bartels came to this country in 1926. Gerda was four when she came. She remembered the ride on the ship. She said she could remember being on the deck eating a lollypop and a bee tried to land on it. Gerda also said she remembered seeing dolphins jumping in the ocean. When she landed at Ellis Island she had a cold and her mother told her "Don't cough they will send us back."

My mother died fourteen years ago. She had two primary malignancies. The first was colon cancer, which was found early and considered a cure. The second was colangiocarcinoma, cancer of the bile duct, it was located just below the liver. This type is very rare, just about 1% of all malignancies. It was inoperable because of the location. The life expectancy was up to one year. With the modern techniques, the gastroenterologist inserted a stent into the bile duct, which then was able to drain the bile from the liver. Gerda lived four years and her quality of life was good, she only had a bit of pain the last month or two and she took some Tylenol with Codeine.

It has been fourteen years and we still miss her very much.