Earth’s Celebration

 

To our Dearest Fiery Soul, our mother of all Maryisms, our truth sayer and beloved mother, grandmother and dear friend to so many— this final letter is mailed to you and sealed with that sparkle and that fiery zest that certainly ignited your soul and a little red lipstick too

 

The saying often goes that you should 

Love like you’ve never been hurt

Sing like no one is listening

Dance like nobody's watching

And live like it’s heaven on earth

 

And for all of your beautiful children 

Your relatives, your grandchildren 

And of course your beloved husband who 

Is overjoyed to have you home with him

We know that you quite literally lived every moment on 

Earth like it was heaven’s celebration 

And we thank you for being this model for us

How quickly life passes by and how 

Easy it is sometimes to forget

How important this celebration is

In living out life clothed in kindness, forgiveness, second chances

Love. Love. Love.

 

From our earliest days playing

Inside and outside the walls of Meadow Lane

We felt that celebration from the tops of our heads

To the tips of our toes

We learned in our elementary years how important

Family traditions and gatherings were and how

Celebration could be cultivated in the simplest ways

With laughter and food

We all knew your Schwan delivery man “Shorty” 

Who brought the best goodies

And crammed around the dining room table that just never seemed large enough

We Squeezed to sit on top of each other 

And the squeezing mattered not

Because joy created

Laughter

Spreading love

buttered lamb, ham and green bean casserole

Your olives hidden in a closet for no one to find

Bellies full and smiling

Aunt Linda always making her magnificent plate of cookies

To be eaten with delicacy and wonder

 

You always made sure that

The grandchildren were a part of the cocktail time

And you grinned with that beautiful red lipstick smile

As we would enjoy pounds of shrimp with sweet cocktail sauce

Licking our lips full of

Pringles and triscuit crackers

Waving our noses 

As the limburger wafted by but knowing 

This was an important part of life’s celebration

Your daily Manhattans were a cheer

And a sipped thanks to living another

Beautiful day

And beautiful when we asked how your day was

Was what you would say

 

And it wasn’t just in the food where we felt this celebration 

But in the carefully planned birthday parties

The knitted birthday calendars

On the back of the bathroom door

With homemade cakes and backyard parties 

Which you adored

In our family reunions, Thanksgivings and Easter Gatherings

Weddings, graduations and recitals

Dance events, soccer, baseball and basketball games 

Large moments and small

You lived from holiday to holiday

Never missing a moment

And I’ll never forget your monthly calls or 

Sometimes texts through others reminding me

There were only a few more months until Christmas

Through every celebration we were called

To be love

To show love

And become love

And to remember confetti can happen

Every day

Should we let it be so

 

In the past year or so listening to

Your childhood stories 

Your triumphs and failures 

The pride you held in your heart for

Grandpa

Spilled between every page 

Love has no bounds

And writing the words to the book you wished to create

Are careful memories I will keep with me

For a lifetime

A wordsmith you were

Your vocabulary exceptional 

And the letters you crafted 

To your children and grandchildren 

Mailed over the years

For every single special occasion

Will be saved and remember

As a celebration of what love and life

Mean to every one of us

 

96 years of life 

What an unbelievable celebration 

A spitfire you were

And no coincidence that you went to heaven

Three days before your 97th birthday

Also no coincidence that there were celebrations

Occurring around you

Some near Otisco Lake and Disneyland 

and the paradise of Hawaii 

Knowing you would be so proud of the joy of your loved one’s celebrating life

You whispered about  traveling and the world you saw

And wondered and dreamed of 

The world was a gift you never took for granted

Majestic, whimsical and wonderful

This you always told us

And we promise to honor this time we have on earth in the same way

This year we know

You are celebrating your birthday in heaven

With the world’s famous Carvel Ice Cream Cake

Or perhaps a cone from Andersons

October being your favorite month

With vibrant leaves falling and crunching beneath our

Feet and yours

The beginning of The Notre Dame Football Season

And the Bills

Winds of change and winds of peace

It’s the arrival of a season of holidays

A rebirth of joy

As you used to say

The very best season of all

Knowing you are throwing one of the greatest parties of all

Up in the heavens 

Keeps us smiling 

We remember your spirit always.

And your spunk

That whether we admit it or not is

Inside of all of us- even your great grandchildren

 

We love you. We love grandpa. 

And we miss you both

200 Meadow Lane won’t ever be the same

And that’s okay I think

Because the memories we hold will last a lifetime

Passed down to our children 

And their children

And we promise you both 

That we will continue to celebrate and love one another

As family should- we know you both would have wanted this

Thank you for helping to create

A heavenly celebration for all of us

Right here on earth