(This is what Ray read at the service for his mom.  Several people asked to see what he said - so I have put it here for you to see).

 

On behalf of my sister, Connie and myself, we want to express our sincere appreciation to everyone here today. Your presence here means a lot to us.

 

Today we celebrate and remember mom’s life.  A service like this doesn’t occur because someone has died , but rather because someone has lived.

 

Mom was a simple lady.  She didn’t like to dress up.  She didn’t even like to wear shoes…her glasses…or her teeth.  Mom didn’t need a fancy house, fancy clothes or jewels.  She didn’t need anything fancy to make her happy.  She never got caught up in all the complexities of life.  To her, simple was better.  And that’s the way she lived.

 

She loved her family and cherished them dearly.  At times, she had unique ways of showing her fondness.  For example, she would pick on you and at you.  She would hassle you and even sometimes totally irritate you.  This was her simple way of paying attention to you.  Her way of telling you she loved you.  Of course she would tell her family she loved them, as well.

 

I think she made it a sport to irritate dad.  She knew how to push his buttons.  But when dad was sick, mom took care of him.  After dad’s passing, mom mentioned to a few select folks just how much she missed dad.  Again, showing her love and devotion for him.

 

Mom never fretted or worried about much.  In fact her favorite saying was “It’ll all be fine.  There’s no reason to worry.”  And more often than not, she was right.  What a lesson for all of us to learn.

 

Mom never met a stranger.  She had the unique ability to strike up a conversation with anyone whether she knew them or not.  By the time she left that person I guarantee you she knew a lot about them.  That’s just the kind of person she was.

 

There wasn’t much mom didn’t like about people.  But she did have a couple of pet peeves.  One of them was people who whine.  Mom didn’t like that and she would let you know about it, too.    The other pet peeve of mom’s was people who complained too much.  Again, she would tell you to your face to quit complaining.  She chose to live a simple happy life.

 

I asked several people to describe mom in one word.  That’s not always an easy thing to do.  I received some very interesting responses.  Some of these seem almost contradictory.  But if you know mom, you know all these words describe her.

 

*stubborn    *unique        *outgoing    *talkative     *agitator     *opinionated

 

*salesman    *funny         *bullheaded *hilarious     *hermit        *ornery

 

*pack-rat     *determined *annoying    *gossipy      *generous

 

*2 people said she was cantankerous

*2 people said she was friendly

*2 people said she was caring

 

As you can see, mom was different things to different people.  But to Connie and me…she was “mom”.  And she will be dearly missed.