In God's Garden

God looked around his garden
and saw an empty space
He then looked down upon the earth
and saw your tired face.
He knew that you were suffering
He knew you were in pain
He knew that you would not get well
while here on earth again.
He saw the road was getting tough
and the hills were hard to climb
So he closed your weary eyelids
and whispered "Peace be thine."
He put his arms around you,
and lifted you to rest
God's garden must be beautiful,
He always takes the BEST!
It broke our hearts to lose you
but you didn't go alone
For part of us went with you
the day God called you home.




We didn't always get along with Mom. She was a tough customer. She could be your best friend one minute and the wicked witch of the West the next. She loved her kids, but on her terms. She wasn't one to gush or lavish you with hugs and kisses, unless you were one of her grandchildren. She loved them to bits, and they loved her too.
It's funny because when I look back on it now, the things that I used to fight with her about don't seem as important. She had a way of driving us all crazy, making each of us think that the other three were her favorites and not us. I know that it caused hard feelings, it did for me too. I think that the reason it isn't as important anymore is that she isn't here any more.
There are so manytimes that I wish that I could just pick up the phone and call her to share some good news, a good joke, or complain about life in general. I can't. I'd like to see her on Christmas Morning when we go home to Connecticut to see the family, but I don't. I'd be happy to hear her yell at me one more time, but I won't.
There is not a day that goes by that I don't miss her. She was a strong, intelligent, good person, who did a lot of good in her short life. Before she died, she and I made peace with one another and we were friends. It broke my heart to let her go, but she went knowing that I loved her, and I knew that she loved me.

She was very active in politics and the American Legion Auxiliary. She was always championing a cause for crippled children, battered women, or POWsand MIAs. My sisters and I joined the Auxiliary because she felt it was important that we belong. She held chairmanships in the District and the Department of Connecticut. She was good at what she did, because she loved doing it. I stayed active while I was in Connecticut and went on to be the District President too. The entire year I served, I knew that she was watching over me, and guiding me in every step I took. I hope she was proud of me. I was proud of her.








Mom was always organizing fundraisers for the American Legion Auxiliary, especially those for Children and Youth. She had several "balloon flights" for Newington Children's Hospital and Ronald McDonald House.
Here are a couple of pictures of one of her balloon flights. My good friends Joe and Elaine, and my husband Jerry who loved clowning around for Mom.









Mom was pretty creative about a lot of things. She put on Living Nativity Pageants with her Girl Scout Troop and made us Halloween costumes that were never like any one elses. One year, my brother dressed as Anne Bolyne with a long gown and a lampshade at the neckline to give the appearance of being headless. He carried a basketball with a wig for his head! Pretty original eh?
When my brother and I were little, we watched Winky Dink and Me on television everyday. That was her cue for our Halloween costume in this picture. We were Winky DInk and me ( both dressed as Winky Dink, so who was W.D. and who was me, we never knew).


The song playing on this page is Love, Me by Country artist Colin Raye. This song came out while My Mom was sick and I was spending my Monday's with her. Everytime I heard it, I cried (and still do to this day) because it reminded me of her and my Dad.

These are the words:



Love, Me
I read a note my grandma wrote back in nineteen twenty-three
Grandpa kept it in his coat, and he showed it once to me
He said, "Boy, you might not understand, but a long, long time ago,
Grandma's daddy didn't like me none, but I loved your Grandma so"
We had this crazy plan to meet and run away together
Get married in the first town we came to, and live forever
But nailed to the tree where we were supposed to meet, instead
I found this letter, and this is what it said
If you get there before I do, don't give up on me
I'll meet you when my chores are through
I don't know how long I'll be
But I'm not gonna let you down, darling wait and see
And between now and then, till I see you again
I'll be loving you. Love, me
I read those words just hours before my Grandma passed away
In the doorway of a church where me and Grandpa stopped to pray
I know I'd never seen him cry in all my fifteen years
But as he said these words to her, his eyes filled up with tears
If you get there before I do, don't give up on me
I'll meet you when my chores are through
I don't know how long I'll be
But I'm not gonna let you down, darling wait and see
And between now and then, till I see you again
I'll be loving you. Love, me
Between now and then, till I see you again
I'll be loving you. Love, me

(Skip Ewing/Max T. Barnes) (Track 14 - Time 6:23)



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