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Bill,
I thought today's gathering was exceptional. Very personal, cordial, humorous, thoughtful, reflective, spiritual, joyful, connected....all the things your mom was. I always admired Theda, sometimes wished she was my mom.
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This is, perhaps, a little more eloquent than other things I've heard in recent days, but it's typical. It's helps me to appreciate how profoundly I was blessed.
The "sometimes wished she was my mom" comment stuns me.
The cousin who wrote this is my age. Our families were close during our childhood. His mother was not abusive. She was responsible. She was a devoted mother. She did her best. My cousin thrived in his childhood and has had a good, successful life.
And, he doesn't know what it was like to be mom's son. I only exaggerate slightly when I say that my mom grounded me starting at age 12 until I left for college.
Still, I'm certain that my cousin is sincere in relating that there were times he'd have traded his mother for mine.
This serves to remind me that I, at least, have no idea how profoundly I am blessed.
You've been to funerals where the parish priest, or others, were exaggerating the good qualities, perhaps outright lying, about the deceased.
As I was participating in that "very personal, cordial humorous, thoughtful, reflective, spiritual, joyful, connected" gathering in mom's honor yesterday, I thought, "You know, no one's lying. All of this is true."
Actually, much that was said was, if anything, understated.
What a blessed man I am.
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