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The Muvver of Me by Lynn Thomas -
September 21, 2003
Thank you
all for coming. I know that Mom would be pleased, and the family
appreciates your support.
Each of
us has our own perspective on how Mom touched our lives. I’d like
to share a bit about how Mom was a unique and special person to me.
Throughout my life, I remember her as being a teacher – not just to
the hundreds of children she taught over the years, but to her own
children as well.
She and I
shared a love of education and learning.
I’m
fortunate that I possess some of her teaching skills. That teacher
part of me is probably what is allowing me to stand up here and
share these thoughts with you today. Thanks to these skills that I
got from Mom, I have also made a difference in many children’s
lives. So, Mom’s impact on the lives of young people extends much
farther than she ever knew.
Mom
taught me how to live independently:
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She taught me how to clean house.
From her, I learned the many cleaning properties of lighter
fluid. To this day, I always keep a bottle of lighter fluid handy
in my house.
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I learned the many uses of a Dust
Buster. But, unlike Mom, I don’t make it a frequent practice of
running behind people, running the Dust Buster before they’re
finished with their work.
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She taught me how to cook. I don’t
know how many ways there are to prepare Jell-O, but I’m sure that
Mom knew every one of them. Unfortunately, I never mastered
removing Jell-O from a mold in one piece. But, I’m sure that Mom
will forgive me for serving from the bowl.
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And I know that I’ll never again taste
deviled eggs or wild rice the way Mom made them.
She
taught me to be prepared for any emergency:
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We children remember having enough
toilet paper in the basement cabinets to serve the entire city of
Crete. And I know that there are enough light bulbs in those same
cabinets right now to keep all of Tinley Park lit for a decade.
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When I was 16, Mom encouraged me to
begin buying household items for my hope chest. Some people might
have said, “Get a clue, she was looking forward to you leaving
home.” But I know that she was preparing me to be on my own. My
own son and his fiancé will also benefit from my following Mom’s
lead and buying things that Kyle could use to live on his own.
Mom had a
very giving and considerate side to her as well:
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When Mom had lost all her weight, she
never let me leave the house without taking a bag of clothes that
she could no longer wear.
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Because I don’t like nuts, she’d
always make a separate pan of fudge for me without nuts.
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She was always offering to help me
compile reports and help with other paperwork for my work.
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She offered to help take care of me
following my surgery
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She loved to make soups and chili and
give it to my husband so he’d have something to eat when I was
traveling for my job, in case I forgot to feed him.
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And she was serious when she asked if
she could come over to help us pack our house before our recent
move.
She was
also a great example to me of how to be a caring and considerate
wife.
I’m so
glad that I had the opportunity to share the last two years living
closer to Mom & Dad. Although I’ve heard, “You’ve got to do what
you’ve got to do.” Moving away six weeks ago was one of the hardest
things I’ve had to
do.
I’ve got
to believe that Mom’s been called for another purpose, or none of
this would make sense. She’s somewhere teaching a child to
read, write or spell Or she’s tending God’s flower garden.
Heaven will have some of the best roses ever, and none of them will
be artificial.
I don’t
see today’s rainy weather as a commentary on how sad we are to lose
Mom. But, I look at it as a statement of how the rain will help her
roses to grow and that her children will continue to bloom, thanks
to how we were raised.
I know
that she’ll be with us and continue to share in each of our joys and
sorrows.
She’ll
continue to be with us in reminders to Dad to take his medication or
to get out and take a walk.
No matter
what, I know that Mom will always be "the muvver of me”.
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