MakeOver Medicine – Celebrating a life

18 May MakeOver Medicine – Celebrating a life

This is in honor of Morgan U. Stockwell, my stepfather who passed away on March 29th. He passed peacefully while sleeping after having lived 93 short years. This is certainly not a traditional notice, though I don’t believe that many will be surprised by his death. My stepdad loved butterflies btw. You’ll see them throughout the post…as he would have liked that!

Largely, my stepfather, lived a great life and a very long one. He is survived by my mother, Katie Stockwell, his son Gregg, his two daughters Mendy and Kim Stockwell-Steen and his two stepchildren, my brother Blake Beard and myself.

See I believe that when anyone dies, at any age, as sad as it may be for those who are left behind, it’s important to focus on their life and the joy, happiness and goodness they brought to ours on a daily basis.

I am grateful to have known my stepdad and I felt lucky to have gained two sisters and a brother out of the deal. My one sister Kim is a year older than me and we actually lived together for a year while we were in college. We are both Jayhawks, as was our father. And although our extended family wasn’t always perfect – it worked. It remains a success story of a happily blended family to this day.

In the past several years, leading up to my stepdad’s passing, he was very well taken care of by his amazingly tireless working wife and my mother, who insisted on a level of care, above-and-beyond. Their story was, is and will always be a true love story. Of course, he will be dearly missed, however, as my family stays focused on what’s important, we now rally to celebrate and honor a man we adored so much, so that he may rest in peace now.

And as I look at the silver lining, I have peace in knowing that I now have a guardian angel. Not at all trying to sound selfish with this one! My stepdad and I loved each other and I sighed a little bit of relief realizing that he’d be able to look after me, even from afar, as I was a hell raiser, even if just a little bit!

jbr