Last night at 10:49 PM, our most beautiful and beloved mom and Grandma NoNo reunited with the love of her life and his forever sweetheart, after a long 3 years apart. 

While the last 3 months in particular have been very difficult and painful, we take tremendous comfort in the joy of knowing they are together again; and we certainly felt a shift in the universe as true love overcame suffering and sorrow, restoring our faith in the good in the world and one another.

JoAnn Groth was one of the most kind, beautiful, loving, and gentle souls the world has ever known, equaled only by her strength and determination to love and care for others (as well as every squirrel, bird, bunny, dog, etc. that had the good fortune to come her way). She was brilliant beyond compare, as she had the secret to a happy and successful life figured out from the jump - it's just pure love for others.

Our families will be forever grateful for the outpouring of love and support we have received from all of you - every caring gesture, meme, emoji, word, picture, act, thought, or memory shared and sent our way has carried us through this experience. You are all a reflection of the love that is JoAnn Groth, and please know anything you've done to show you are with us will never be forgotten and means the world to us.

We will share our plans for a service at a later date to be determined, and ask for your continued understanding and patience with any delayed responses to messages or calls as we work through a number of things to finalize this whole process. 

While we know that sadly we are not alone or unique in experiencing a situation like this, we do consider ourselves fortunate beyond measure to have known such a genuine love to nurture, protect, guide and shape our lives - in fact, it brought each and every one of you into our worlds, and we are just so grateful. We intend to move forward by emulating that loving example as best we can.

Personally, I want to thank my sister, Jenny, for literally pausing her own life to be with mom every single day while she was hospitalized or in the care center receiving hospice. She created a room and setting that was fitting of the woman that our mom was, and provided such compassionate and loving care to her in her final days that was awe-inspiring and beautiful to behold. Gee...I wonder where she got that trait from? 

Thank you again to everyone for your love and support. And in the spirit of our little spitfire mom who had the heart of a lion and the soul of an angel, don't forget to fill your bird feeders ahead of these cold winter months to come. 

xo, the Milan and Nelson families