Eulogy for Mother
Thank you all -- for coming to commemorate my mother’s life.
Before I go on to celebrate my mother and what she stood for I must share with you the reality of what life was like for my mother and the family since she was first diagnosed with cancer in October. Of course, nobody suffered more than my mother, but Dad you’re definitely second. We all shared my mother’s pain. It was like we were all on trial.
At any one point, as a family, we were in denial, we were angry, or we were depressed. And there was conflict. We disagreed with the doctor’s findings. We didn’t always agree with each other on a course of action. It was a confusing time.
In the end I felt we all put up a good fight. We did what we could do.
I have to ask myself what my mother would want for us right now.
I think she’d want us to heal ourselves and move on. She’d want us to talk with our creator and deal with her death in our own way, but also put her death behind us and live a life that she would be proud of.
I would like to thank all of you for coming here today to help us, as a family, to heal, and to celebrate my mother’s life.
So how many square dancers did I meet yesterday? Dozens? A hundred? You guys rock! What a spirit I see in you. For me, thoughts of my mother dozy-dooing alamand lefting around the dance floor makes me feel good inside. Thanks to all of you for showing up here today.
I see a few people she used to work with at CFB Borden. How she ever got up at 4AM to work those shifts, I’ll never know. Thank you for coming out.
I’m glad we have Maurice, my mother’s younger brother here today. Ella, her older sister, unfortunately couldn’t make it, but I know the news of my mothers death hit her hard. And I know that she prayed with all her will, for my mother.
It was nice to meet a cousin I hadn’t met before. Mark and his wife Michelle drove up from Michigan to be here with us today. Thank you.
And what of the children in our family? Shawn, Kelsey, Sarah, Michael, Emily and Matthew, you should take comfort knowing that your grandmother is in heaven right now, looking down on us.
So thank you judge Ball, Vanessa, Sharon, Susan, Dan, the rest of the panel, my peers, and whoever else I’ve missed. You guys gave me the opportunity to live. And though the sun sets on this chapter of my journey and the dawn rises on the next one I will always be eternally grateful and indebted to you all.
Malin, Irving. “Ken Kesey: One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Critique 5.2 (1962): 81-84. Rpt. in Kesey 440-444.
The novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was written by Ken Kesey. The novel takes place in a mental institute. McMurphy is a man who tries to escape a work farm (prison) by saying he is not "straight in the head". McMurphy is sent to this mental institute to be examined. Here, McMurphy is the hero who sacrifice himself in order to teach others, the patients, to take control of there own lives. McMurphy is the good guy and Miss Ratched(or Big Nurse) is the bad guy. McMurphy influences the people of the ward to stick up for themselves. He does this by bringing women into their lives, and showing them how to be men and to act with confidence by sticking up for themselves. The movie portrays similar influences, but there are differences between the book and movie.
I'd also like to thank everyone for coming today to celebrate the marriage of Kevin and Lisa. Personally I wish you'd all stayed at home so I didn't
And I would like to mention Doris, Claire’s grandmother, who died just a month ago, she was so looking forward to seeing Claire walking down the aisle today but unfortunately she succumbed to her illness.
In Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, the author refers to the many struggles people individually face in life. Through the conflict between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy, the novel explores the themes of individuality and rebellion against conformity. With these themes, Kesey makes various points which help us understand which situations of repression can lead an individual to insanity. These points include: the effects of sexual repression, woman as castrators, and the pressures we face from society to conform. Through these points, Kesey encourages the reader to consider that people react differently in the face of repression, and makes the reader realize the value of alternative states of perception, rather than simply writing them off as "crazy."
Thank you all for coming to share the day with us. Many of you have had to take time off work and/or travelled a fair distance to be with us today - we really do appreciate the sacrifices that have been made for us.
I'd also like to welcome relatives and friends of both families and thank you all for being here, especially those of you who have traveled a long way to make this special occasion so memorable.
The film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is considered one of the greatest films in American films and was directed by Milos Forman. The film, which adapted from Ken Kesey’s popular novel by the same name, was filmed in the Oregon State Hospital which is a real mental institution. The perspective through which the film is presented from indicates a theme of allegory where rebellion is pitted against tyrannical authority coupled with a quest to maintain the status quo of in-mates and the established authority. Via the keen eyes for details, the film unfolds the matriarchal leadership of tyrannical Big Nurse Ratched who keeps the mentally disturbed men in line. The new in-mate Randall Patrick McMurphy is fun-loving and likes scuffles resolved as opposed to Big Nurse Ratched which brings out conflict in the plot. The film is a classic and intellectual attainment of the director who delves in the psychiatric ward and presents interesting facts and reality that desires change and embracing of new attitudes. The strongly brings out characters with stage presence, themes of rebellion and oppression, as well as build on compelling social commentary (Constanzo 1839).
During the past few days, many of our friends and family have come to our home to show their love for us and for Arlyn. I have been especially moved by the fact so many of her teachers and principals have shown up and cried with us. I am also touched by the love her young friends had for her. Our memories of this sad time in our lives will therefore not all be bad.
I’d like to start by thanking Alan for his kind words and also to thank him on behalf of everyone for footing the bill for today’s festivities………
I’d also like to echo Randys comments and thank everyone again on their behalf for coming and sharing their special day, particularly those that have travelled long distances. I know how hard i...
We'd like to thank both of you for all the support given to the bride today as well as the other kind of support offered on the way home from the hen do. But most of all we want to thank you for blending in so well with the table cloths.
I would like to thank my mom for all her help and support not just today but over the years and for giving me my “something old” which I'm wearing for luck today. I have a small gift from us for you.
You never really realize how much someone means to you until they are gone. This hit me when my Great Grandpa passed. He was such a great, loving man. My whole life,I had known him as the old farmer-with snow white hair who always had the scent of Williams Lectric Shave lingering about his missed whiskers. I have a lot of my greatest memories with this man. One could only imagine considering living on the same road as most of your family one would have a lot of fond memories, but with him they were more meaningful. This man had something about him, something I could not and still cannot put my finger on. He was a one of a kind with I 'd be lucky to come across as such man as him again in my life. He always had a smile on his face no matter what. His smile was a radiant one. He could walk into a room and the whole mood would shift to something enlightening and calm, almost like a subtle breeze through a wheat field on a warm July day. I miss that smile. I can now only reflect on it through memories of the past.