Sunday, May 27, 2018

My Own Memorial Day Eulogies





On Memorial Day, we here in the United States remember all the deceased men and women who have served as members of our military forces. However, I want to remember today nine deceased friends and family members who touched my life with goodness. 

Because of my age, many of my friends have already died. To celebrate all their lives today would make this posting too long, so I’ve chosen these nine from a larger number. All of them were once a blessing in my life and they continue to be so.

I believe in the Holy Oneness of All Creation. That is, I believe we are all One—all of us living today, all who lived in the past, all who will come in the future. For me, Holy Oneness sums up my belief in the Love that bonds us all—past, present, future—together. 

Each of the nine people whom I’ll celebrate today continues to touch the lives of others through me and through all those whose lives they touched in the past.

Mom—Hellen O’Mara Ready—died in May 1968; she was 58. She was totally nonjudgmental toward everyone she met. If I am open to what life offers, it is because of her.

Dad—John Ready—died in 1975; he was 69. Lacking confidence and unsure of his parents’ love, he began to drink. Yet after Mom’s death, he endured. He even flourished. He taught me to look forward to possibilities and to work with probabilities.

My aunt—Gladys Ready Thomas—died in 1998; she was 84. Despite life’s difficulties, she was joyous throughout her entire life. Her belief in me gave me the confidence to write.

Annette Chastain and I entered the convent together. She died in 1997; she was 58. Deeply philosophical, she frequently helped me—in the years after we left the convent—to put things into perspective and to find humor in the vagaries of life.

Mary Alice Guilfoil and I were nuns together. She died in 1997; she was 61. She had a rare gift for making friends. Her example helped me become less self-conscious and more aware of others and their needs.

Miriam Frost, whom I met when I moved to Minnesota, died in 2009; she was 67. A critical thinker, she was an iconoclast. She taught me to question what I heard and saw and encouraged me to touch life lightly.

Jim Bitney died in 2013; he was around 60. A gentle man, his mind roamed far and wee, always open to new possibilities, always seeking a way to build community. His refusal to be rushed to a decision tempered my own impulsiveness.

John Welshons died in 2013; he was 76. Astoundingly intuitive, he was able to bring out a person’s best talents and gifts. His belief in my abilities led me into a career beyond teaching.

Florence Flaugaur died in 2016: she was 92. A beautiful simplicity, which she maintained throughout life, led her to get to the pith of every issue. She taught me how to develop curriculum and thus gave me a freelance career.

These nine and others blessed my life with their graciousness.

Peace.

Postscript:

If you have the time and inclination, please click here to read the guest posting I did on Rick Watson’s blog. He asked five questions that really got me thinking! His great talent is to ask questions of those he meets in Alabama and to write their unique stories.

Photo from Wikipedia.

25 comments:

  1. A wonderful Memorial Day post, Dee. Thank you for the chance to peek into the history of these nine people and how they impacted you. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear DJan, when we live a long time, we have so many, many, many people who have impacted our lives for good or ill. I'm so blessed that I've known such gracious and loving people. Peace.

      Delete
  2. Lovely tributes to these beautiful people.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Sue, thank you. Each and every one is a beautiful person. Peace.

      Delete
  3. I've always heard that each person that comes into our lives is there for a reason. The nine you have written about do support that notion. I'm feeling introspective today (every Sunday for me is a day for that) and now I'm thinking, could I pick nine people and see as clearly as you do what gifts I have received from each one. It would be a challenge!
    I enjoyed your guest post today also.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Cynthia, I'm wondering why Sunday is a day of introspection for you. I hope it is not a sad day, commenting something in your life that was tragic.

      Are you going to accept that challenge?!?!? The longer I live the more clearly I see the gifts others have shared with me. One of these days, I'll do bloggers and you'll be among them. Peace.

      Delete
  4. What a blessing to be remembered this way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Sandi, I'm sure--yes sure--that you are remembered this way by many of those whose lives you have touched. Peace.

      Delete
  5. My father, who celebrated nothing, observed this holiday. It was called Decoration Day then, was not an official holiday. But, it was for the Civil War veterans like his grandfather, who he adored for the seven years he knew him, and his great-uncles who did not survive the Civil War. We put Iris on so many graves with him. I was thinking about why this sole day was so important, and realized his grandfather was a big, big influence on him. He passed that concept of recognition of honor due on to me. That is the honor you have breathed out for these people in your life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Joanne, I can trace my ancestry back only to about 1880. I don't know if any of my family fought in the Civil War or World War I. Thank you for explaining about the origin and name of what we call Memorial Day. It's such a gift--your remembering your father and his devotion to his grandfather. And by writing about them, you too today breathed out new life for them. Peace.

      Delete
  6. This post reminds me of a Memorial Day tradition we used to do when my mother-in-law was alive and my husband and I would take her around to twelve graves in 4 cemeteries. At each grave---very year---she'd tell us about the "gifts" each of them gave to her and the family. It's important to remember things like you're sharing here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Jean, I so like your tradition. There has never been anything like that in my family, but today I just wanted to remember some of the loving people who have touched my life. I so agree with you that remembering is important for them and for us. Peace.

      Delete
  7. You have had some beautiful people in your life who have touched and inspired you. Those who are gone live within us in what they have taught and how they loved us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Arleen, yes, I learned so much from each of these nine friends and family members. It's astounding to think of how many people touch our lives during the course of our lifetime, thousands upon thousands I think. Peace.

      Delete
  8. A lovely tribute. Thank you for sharing. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Bea, thank you and thanks for stopping by! Peace.

      Delete
  9. Like Jean, Memorial day use to be a time to visit the graves of family or friends as much as honoring the service men who gave all. I think the way people have spread out all over the country, it becomes harder to do that.
    You did it with out traveling with your post today. You honored them well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Patti, yes, I can remember when I was growing up that every Memorial Day--Decoration Day, Mom and Dad would take my brother and me to two different cemeteries and tell us stories about who of our family was buried there. We took flowers from Mom's garden. I have only one friend now who still visits the graves of her family and friends. I don't do it. I got out of the habit when I lived for 50 years away from home. When I moved back, I didn't resume the habit. Peace.

      Delete
  10. It's a shame that so many of your nine people died so young.Think of how many other lives they could have touched if given a few more years!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Fishducky, I used to think--as a child--that 40 was ancient. And now, at 82 I find myself thinking that in a few years I'll really be old! The perspective changes. but, oh, when Mom died at 58 that was hard. Peace.

      Delete
  11. These people, so dear to you, Dee, have been given the gift of your relating these tributes. Thank you for honoring them and letting others know about them. Your insight and remembrance of their contributions is a gift to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Deanna, so long as I live they will be remembered and by my telling others about them, that is remembrance too. And what I know is that everyone whose life I touch is also touched by them for those nine helped form me. Peace.

      Delete
  12. Although a non Catholic I have the fondest memories of Benedictine institutions such and St. Johns at Collegeville in Minnesota where my eldest son did his undergraduate work and adjacent St. Bens where I attend week long workshops as a teacher/union representative. The peaceful, loving compassion sense I felt there was truly heartfelt...:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Troutbirder, like you, I have fond memories of St. Johns and St. Bens. I attended both--each for one summer while I was in the convent. Both summers I worked toward a graduate degree in Benedictine spirituality. Like you, I felt the peace and loving compassion of the monks and nuns. I so appreciate the magnificent church at Collegeville as well as the library--both were built when I was in the convent.

      It's wonderful that your experience is a good one and that you get to attend the workshops there. Peace.

      Delete