Monday, May 6, 2002
How can one sum up a life? Does it suffice to have a few lines in a newspaper? Mom was so real. Is so real. The mystery of a person. She is so dear to so many people. Was she perfect? No. But who is? She is my mom. It is funny that during the time of her final trial we all began to see the mystery of the human person up close, of suffering, of the human condition. Mom is my mom. I knew her, both the good and the bad, as well as anyone. She was a woman of faith and work. She was a gritty person who faced difficulties, sometimes well, sometimes not so well. But she faced them nevertheless. She sacrificed much of her life to raise her boys - alone. It was not in vain. We will carry on and try to live out the virtues that she showed us by her good example. Moreover, we will try to live out the virtues that she lacked, but on which she surely began to work during her sufferings: the final stripping away of all that separates us from God.
She will be missed. She has gone ahead of us and now begins her final trip to "the love of her life." We hope to go to where she is going one day. Mom farewell. Farewell. We hope to see you again one day in that place where there are no more tears and suffering. Farewell. We miss you.
