Robert Green finished the football season only to move on toward track. Stretching before a run, he knows his mother would be proud.

On Friday, Oct. 19, 2000, Robin Green, devoted Girl Scout director and mother of two, died from congestive heart failure at the age of 39. ­­­­

Two weeks prior to her death, Robin checked in to a hospital with complaints about a chest pain. The monitor was unable to detect any abnormalities, resulting with Robin scheduling a future appointment.

Friday nights for the Greens consisted of movies and McDonalds. With both their parents working during the week, Robert and his older brother Jimmie looked forward to the time spent with their parents.

“She was very kind and loving,” Robert Green said. “She punished me with good intentions. I miss hanging out with her.”

According to Coach Green, the morning his wife died was cold like any other day in New York. Upon realizing her immobilization, Coach Green attempted to perform CPR on Robin before calling the paramedics. Their arrival, along with a local officer awoke Robert and Jimmie whose only question was, “Is mommy going to be alright?” The officer present denied them access to the room, evoking Coach Green to say, “I don’t want their last time to see their mother to be at the funeral.” With tears in their eyes, Robert reassured the family that “everything was going to be alright. Mommy is in heaven.”

“I didn’t know how to be by myself,” Coach Green said.

The funeral was run by the girl scouts in respect of Robin’s service toward them. Coach Green decided to honor Robin’s wish of being cremated.

“The whole year was like a blur,” Coach Green said. “I kind of just went through the emotions.”

The following weeks, Coach Green adapted to his new life without Robin while retaining his relationship with his kids.

“I wanted them to know I would always be there,” Coach Green said.

Coping with the loss of a loved one was expressed differently by each family member. According to Coach Green, Jimmie buried himself in his classroom and vented his frustration by attacking a bully who picked on him, cracking the boy’s tooth.

Robert, who never cried publicly, was seen as the strongest in the family despite being the youngest.

Adjusting to the absence of his wife required Coach Green to pick up duties that were not normally reserved for him.

“I did so much before anyway,” Coach Green said, “but I hated cleaning. Especially dusting.”

Robert, understanding the role his father had taken up, reflected on his change in disposition.

“He was more loving and more stern,” Robert Green said. “He had to be both parents.”

Coach Green remarried to his wife Georgia who worked at the school they previously taught at. As a friend who was present during Robin’s death, her relationship with their family was easily accepted.

Although the time Robin spent with her family was short, she will always be missed and loved by those she left behind.

“Death is a celebration,” Robert Green said. “It may be sudden and sad, but you must celebrate that they’re with God and at eternal rest.”