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Thank you everyone for coming today.
My mother gave me strict instructions about what she didn't want
us to do about her funeral. She and my father discussed what
arrangements to make and hopefully we've honored all her wishes.
(By the way - for the Schroeders -my mom
wants you to know that this mass doesn't cover your Sunday obligation
this week)
But my mom didn't give us any instructions on how we could honor
her. The best way may be to tell you some of the things my mom
valued:
FAMILY - My mom was 7th of 9 children. My parents were married
in 1950 and celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary last year.
In addition to having 7 children and 15 grandchildren, my mother
was godmother or confirmation sponsor to many nieces and nephews.
As the oldest child, I've always had a theory about why we only
had 7 kids in our family. I think it's because when we went anywhere
as a family, my dad had two hands, my mom had 2 hands and I had
2 hands. We could only hold six other hands. Someone asked me
this weekend if my mom had a favorite child. Immediately I replied
- yes me. But I hurried to say that if the same question were
asked of my six brothers and sisters, each of us would give the
same answer. My mom didn't have a favorite child - she had seven
favorite children. She didn't have a favorite grandchild - she
had 15 favorite grandchildren.
One memory that stands out when I think about my mom and family
is our weekly trips to spend Sunday afternoon with my grandfather.
I'm not sure why Sundays were our day but every week for years
we faithfully went to visit. That was no easy task considering
just how hard it was to pile 7 children into a car.
My mother always arranged family parties. On holidays she hosted
everyone until the group grew too large for our house. So she
scaled back to just us. When that group increased in size, she
changed from sit down meals to a buffet dinner.
LEARNING - My mom was smart. She read a number of daily newspapers
and subscribed to many magazines. Her interests stretched from
needlework to cooking to games to politics to current events.
She could double dutch jump rope. She taught everyone to play
cards way before they started kindergarten. She was an avid Lakers
basketball fan.
She knew everything. Or at least enough
about everything to hold an informed conversation about it.
My mom was a volunteer. She taught CCD here at St. Mary's. She
collected door to door for the American Cancer Society. She was
an
active Democrat. She'd go out of her way to help others. An
example is that when we went to EGA meetings in Allentown, we'd
detour through Easton so she could pick up an EGA member who
didn't drive.
And she lived what she believed in. She was the original feminist.
Recently she, along with my dad, adopted the issue of the increased
tolls over the Delaware River. Every day she e-mailed elected
officials and members of the Toll Bridge Commission. Everyone
might notice that the tolls have now decreased.
My mom believed that in life, when you made a decision, you should
move forward and not look back. And you shouldn't regret what
you didn't do.
She supported our decisions, kept our secrets and celebrated
our successes. She felt dying was a natural part of life. The
best way to honor her will be to live our lives to the fullest. |