Pamela Milton Bailey

Death is the only universal thing, and grieving makes beginners out of all of us. Yet grief affects us all in different ways. There is no instruction manual on how best to cope. There is only time, day by day and sometimes minute by minute, to feel what works, and to cast aside what does not. In the coming years my sisters and I will learn to live without our mother by our side.

Our mother, Pamela Milton Bailey, passed away peacefully on December 19, 2022, with her loving family by her side. Pam was born on December 27, 1952 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She is survived in death by her three daughters, Crystal Jenéne Bailey, Alisa Jo Bailey, & Karie Jean Parker along with their significant others. Her grandson, Andrew Dean Hanson, and her two granddaughters, Tristin Jade Borger and Lila Jean Vicknair. She is also survived by her loving significant other James Edward Woolbright IV. They shared a home and their remaining years of her life together in Leander, Texas. She was preceded in death by her parents Louis George “Shot” Milton and Ouida Bell Milton. As well as her beloved brother Louis Gerald “Jerry” Milton.

From a very young age Pam loved being a sister to her brother, Jerry. They had an unbreakable bond where they stuck together and always had each other’s back in their time of need. In some of her remnants, we found notes she had written. They said some of her best childhood memories were hunting and fishing with Jerry. She talked about her childhood in a way you could see they were the very best of friends. They, thankfully, remained the best of friends until his passing in 2016.

Our mother loved being a nurse. She spent 46 years throughout her nursing journey helping numerous patients to obtain the quality healthcare they needed and deserved. In recent years, during her many stays at the hospitals she would brag to the nurses caring for her about her successful nursing career. Particularly, on her last stay there was a fairly new nurse caring for her and she was a tough blood draw given the challenges her unfortunate cancer diagnosis yielded. The nurse thought he wouldn’t be able to successfully reach her vein in her arm without hurting her. She promptly told him, “come here, let me show you how to do it”. This classic trait of hers made her a unique and talented nurse in her own right.

Our mother left a note for all of those who loved and knew her to remember her by.

‘Lessons Learned in Life’

You can shed tears because they are gone,

Or you can smile because they lived.

You can choose to close your eyes

And pray they will come back,

Or you can open your eyes

And see all that they left for you.

Your heart can be empty

Because you can’t see them,

Or you can be full of the love you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,

Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember only that they are gone,

Or you can cherish their memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind and feel empty,

Or you can do what they would want.

Smile,

Open your heart, Love…

and go on.

By: Elizabeth Ammons

Services will be held at Reed Corley Fish Funeral home in Leander, Texas on December 27, 2022 at 10:00am. Additionally, a celebration of life is pending and will be held in Watson, Louisiana in the spring of 2023.

In lieu of flowers, please consider purchasing a tree in our mothers honor at TreesForAChange.com @ https://https://www.treesforachange.com/collections/memorial-trees-sympathy-gifts or donating to your preferred Cancer support network.

With gratitude,

The Family of Pamela Milton Bailey