mom. my eulogy

Dorothy loved being a mom, and we loved being her children.
there is no way to share even a small portion of that love with you today in these few words. She cared deeply, believed in people and gave generously within her family and to her community.
Mom moved to big Bear after our father died in 1978. She was alone for the first time in almost 40 years, but faith and determination got her through. meeting good people such as yourself made her life rich. everywhere she went she found kindness, acceptance and opportunity. this small town was just her size.
Here she made friends, built a new life around her church, the school where she worked and the library. if you know mom at all you know she loved to read! Her desire to learn and grow took her into bible studies. her need to serve was met in the legion of Mary.


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you were a big part of her and who she came to be in the thirty years she spent with you, here. She shed some of her previous life when she left Van Nuys to move here, glad to be away from the crowds, the traffic and the noise.
There is no doubt that she EXTENDED her life when she moved to these beautiful mountains. Of course we are thankful that she lived a long and healthy life, largely free of any accidents or ailments. The most significant Extension of mom's life was how she moved outward from her little five room cabin into this generous, warm, healing community. Here she learned to overcome the loss of her husband of 36 years, she found her own strength, deepened her faith and developed more of that resolve that made her who she was. She found a way, some times she had to make a way. She even had to push obstacles out of the way, and God was with her every step!

we look forward hearing from some of you and hearing your stories

smiling now

 

Mom's passing was to me, like a slow motion winter sunset into a calm vast ocean.
The brightness was gone, fading to a glimmer and as the intensity went down the subtleties of light and dark began to play on the screen that is the sky. as the changes came we had to look for them, appreciate them, cement them in our memories so that when it was dark and cold we would know that we had gotten every bit of that last great light show.

our eyes could not see what was really happening, and that is where faith in God and His word come to repair our poor vision.
we live in the now, and see only what is here, yet we long for and dream of what is there, beyond the horizon of life's span.
God's messengers have brought us a great gift and we will be advised not just to own a copy, but to open it. We need to be sure of who we are in Him, and sure of what we believe. We must test His promises to know that He is still the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Mom's life of faith taught me to respect these abiding principles: Perseverance, peace, patience and praise.

Psalm 34:1 "I will extol the Lord at all times, His praise will always be on my lips."