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A Special Thanks Quite a Gal, They Broke the Mold, Loving Wife, World’s Greatest Mom, Dearest Friend- the list goes on and on… Thanks for all the wonderful such remembrances that so many of you have shared with me the last few days and thank you for coming today to celebrate the joy of my Mom’s world.
Jeannie absorbed the best from
everyone she met- she only saw their In this way a part of so many of you will forever be an integral component of my soul. A Journey of Love A blond, pony-tailed gal from Boston determined to build her own path into life in an age where a women’s path was generally defined by marriage, Jeannie graduated from Framingham College in a class of 5 – friends that would continue to share their memories and their lives to this day. I’ll never forget the anticipation a few years ago as she prepared for her 50th reunion, the cards from New England and the stories and pictures upon her return. She attacked her chosen profession with her typical passion studying and training as a dietician at prestigious John’s Hopkins Teaching Hospital and at Mass General - a career that thoroughly aligned with her inner drive to help people. Moving to Florida in the 1940’s she applied her skills with the VA in Miami while the coastlines of South Florida also afforded her the chance to enjoy more sailing- one of her favorite pastimes growing up. She was so proud of her time with the Veteran’s Administration teaching nurses the fundamentals of sound nutrition for the soldiers returning from the decades of war. While Dad counseled the young soldiers to facilitate their psychological healing, Mom was well down the path to becoming a life-long Ambassador of Nutrition. Jean met my Father in South Florida- it takes more than her unbridled optimism to explain her enrapture for Dad- it also betrays her passionate romanticism. She recalls her first date with Dad- a fishing trip where all that was caught was her severe case of chiggers- much as one would have expected to hear of a moonlit rendezvous with Cary Grant. Her honeymoon was a trip to a ballgame, but as she tells the story her face would radiate with the glow of one reciting the tales of two weeks of love in the tropics. Her perspective is priceless. After moving to St. Petersburg Beach in 1961 and starting a family, she began embracing the joys that she would most cherish during her life- committed Little League and PTA Mom, a driving force at the racquet club, active in garden and craft circles and always- Ambassador of Nutrition. It was so beautiful to hear the joy resonate in her voice when she recalled the years of walking to the beach with her freckled son and his bag of trucks…. I don’t think Mom was any more excited than I was to move from her many friends and the lazy beaches of St. Pete to the rural community of Deland. But in typical fashion, Dad’s dream became Jeannie’s passion. It wasn’t long before Deland became her home- and in her usual style she created more and deeper relationships than ever before. She helped Dad turn his retirement hobby into a thriving fern business- the Cave Lake Fernery- that capitalized on the emergence of Tree fern in the eighties. Whether it was weeding, cutting, packing – she did it all as though it was her dream… From the racquet clubs to the garden clubs, from the YMCA to the Library, Mom’s years in retirement here were filled with joy and so many memorable experiences. We talked a great deal of her fondness for her Deland buddies and the precious times they shared. When Dad became ill about three years ago, Mom was at the hospital and nursing home for every meal over the last year of Dad’s life. As always, her inner flame provided the energy that powered our family and her hugs every weekend kept me going during these times. Mom and I shared the dream of her move to Jax Beach with Big Al and I and we began construction of her villa in my home. The Angels that helped Mom get through the weeks and helped her organize her world for the transition during this tough time will always be in my heart. But more surgeries and her weakened condition were too much- and as we returned from the surgeon she collapsed. For a couple weeks in the hospital and Lutheran Home she survived on spoonfuls of Jamocha shakes, constant hugs and her indomitable will. All of a sudden one day she began squeezing a sponge ball, then came weeks of exercises in bed. I’ll never forget the astonishment of her physical therapist when she was plowing up and down the hallway with her walker a couple weeks later. Time seems to flow like an ever-narrowing river, hurtling us faster and faster past landmarks in life we often wish we had embraced more heartily and relished with greater focus. I am so lucky… Thanks to Mom’s incredible strength and determination and her many friends, my boat came ashore for 2 years at the greatest landmark of my life. Jeannie instantaneously transformed my house into a home- bonding with my friends and cultivating new ones of her own. And when a friend’s friend was hired to help Mom in the mornings until I returned home from work, it wasn’t long before she became part of our family. I will always be indebted to her and her daughter for their contributions to our happiness- and for giving Jeanie female companionship I couldn’t provide. The Camellia circle-sorry, no blue sage in Jax Beach- and lunches with the girls, frozen drinks in her garden, trips to an orchid show or the beach with her buddy Big Al, rides in her golf cart to the river for the sunsets, hosting her college buddy for three days of Lobster and stories, putting around on our putting green, Friday happy hour rambles with her new crew, playing with children, clipping stories from papers, writing letters to friends, the Jeannie of old was in stride once again. Words are not sufficient to describe the joy I felt simply serving Mom coconut shrimp, smoked ribs or a steaming lobster and the frozen Mango-Colada’s she loved so much as she enjoyed her favorite show- Touched by an Angel. I was always struck by the impression she was watching her own… She embraced my belief that you add an hour to one’s life with each smile and a day with each laugh and fired one-liners back at me as fast as I could hurl them. I tried to start and end each of her days with a big hug- with 10 in between- but it was evident I was getting back more hug than I was dishing out- Jeannie had a way of reflecting and amplifying warmth back to her friends. But most priceless was the quiet example she set - the effortless blueprint of the virtues to which we all aspire. Blueprint for Life Positive Thought - we all control the lens thru which we perceive our world – we can focus on the positive or dwell on the negative. Our lives are, in so many ways, what we choose them to be. For Mom, there were no negatives. Challenges were promptly addressed head-on and only served to hone her strength while she planned the pleasures that would follow- a trip to her garden, tennis matches on TV, a crossword over lunch or writing a letters to friends. Her unrelenting zest for life was apparent in all she did… The last couple weeks Mom lost the strength to get out of bed and was a lot more than uncomfortable- yet in the mornings when I’d hear her awake and make my way in I’d be greeted by her ringing tones- “I’ve seen a butterfly, 2 pigeons and a blue bird- it looks like it will be a beautiful sunrise this morning.” Honesty/Morality- for Mom there was no moral middle ground, no gray area- there was only truth and doing things right. Jeannie showed how you make your own luck in life- she always did things the right way- shortcuts need not apply- and it was amazing how blessings seemed to fall into place. Constitution and Determination- Cancer and chemo’s wouldn’t get in the way of her trip to the west coast, back problems didn’t stop her from flying to New England to aid relatives in need, and Parkinson’s met it’s match in Jeannie. Even after 10 years, the calendar in her head still worked a lot better than the one in my Daytimer- her skill with crosswords was undaunted and the reading she cherished remained a fixture in her world. Jeannie’s approach took “can-do” to the next level- whatever the challenge, her outlook was the same- will do… Compassion- Mom helped everyone she could- when Jeannie saw someone in need she would help simply because she could. Her first day in Jax she clipped from the paper the plea for help from the local soup kitchen- I’ll never forget the importance that she placed on making sure that her check went out with the mail the next day… She was even more empathetic to the needs of her friends- it was as though she could sense your distress and was there with the salve- a hug, a suggestion or just the heart-felt empathy that meant you were no longer alone in your fight. Friendship – For Jeannie, the world revolved around her friends- life was an ever-present opportunity to create new bonds and savor and nurture the relationships that meant so much to her world. Mom loved her friends with a passion many find it tough to match for their family. Jeannie demonstrated that a heart has no limit on the love it can hold and if as John Lennon sang, “the love you take is equal to the love you make”, then one would be challenged to find someone more loved than my Mom… I only hope that someday my heart will beat with a fraction of the love she projected. I know my life was complete a few weeks ago when, after her evening-ending hug, kiss and “love you gorgeous”, she locked her piercing eyes on mine and said: “you’re my best friend.” Thank you all very much…
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