My wife's Mom passed away last Saturday. I thought I would share the eulogy I gave at her funeral. She was a great lady.
FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE
MARY JO EUTON
1937 – 2009
When my wife, Kimberly, asked if I could say a few words about Mom, I was a little worried. After all, I’m fairly new to this family. I wasn’t sure I was worthy of this honor…that I could possibly put into words just how wonderful Mom was…how important her life was to all of us…and how very much we loved her.
The thing about Mom, she wasn’t hard to figure out. And so, in the short time that I had the honor of knowing her, I think I can say that I honestly knew who she was. So, it didn’t take long for my worry to end and I was filled with peace as three words came to my mind that, to me, best describe who Mom was.
Those three words are: Faith, Hope and Love.
Mom raised seven wonderful children: Karen, Patrick, Cathy, Michael, Mark, Mickey and my beautiful wife, Kimberly. What greater gift is there in life than a Mother’s Love? Mom loved her children unconditionally, in both words and deeds. And, in many ways, I believe that this unconditional love we received from Mom is the truest example of God’s love for all of us. We always knew that Mom loved us, just as we know God loves us. And, just as there are times when we disappoint our Heavenly Father, there have been times in life when we made poor decisions or did something stupid and disappointed Mom.
Now, I’ve spent some time around my brothers-in-law, Mark and Patrick, so I can say this with a certain amount of confidence. I’m sure Mom tasted disappointment more than a few times in her life. But, even after those times we disappointed Mom, her unconditional love for us was always there. Mom was always there for us to love, support and guide us. She came to all our football games, baseball games, basketball games, drill team, cheerleading, weddings, the births of our children…all of the important milestones in our life. And in times of trouble, pain and sorrow Mom was our safe place. Always there for us…always loving us.
I know Mom had a strong Faith in God. I can remember many times when Mark or I would be teasing her and she would lift her eyes to the Heavens and say, “God, please help me,” or “God, please don’t let me say something ugly!”
I can think of two other examples of Mom’s strong faith in God. When Michael passed away, Mom was very angry at God because of the timing and manner of Michael’s death. But, if you think about it, in order to be angry at God, Mom had to believe that He exists. And her faith got her through it because she often said later on, “God didn’t abandon me when Michael died. He’s the one that gave me strength and got me through it.”
The other example was more recent and happened shortly after her heart surgery. Mom was in recovery and we were only allowed to see her for fifteen minutes every two hours. Mark had been visiting with Mom in the hospital and as he was getting ready to leave he said, “Momma, I’m worried about you.” Mom said to Mark, “Don’t worry about me Mark. The Good Lord is gonna take care of me.” These were Mom’s last words here on Earth and are a great comfort to me. I hope they are to you too.
Mom’s love for us and her strong faith in God are a great source of Hope for me. I have always believed that when God calls us home, we are going to a better place. A place where there is no pain, no sorrow, no tears. My hopes and dreams of what Heaven must be like have just gotten a whole lot better because Mom is there. When I think of her now, she’s beautiful. She’s no longer in pain…She’s in heaven, holding hands with Michael, Aunt Dot, Aunt Queenie, and her Mom and Dad. How happy she must be. I can see Mom in my mind as she is about to meet God. He hands her a nice, cold can of Sprite Zero and a 3 Musketeers candy bar. Then God puts His arms around her and as He draws her close He says, “Welcome home Mary Jo. Thank you my loving and faithful servant.”
So, as we take Mom home today how is it that we can best honor her and the example she set for all of us?
We can live a life full of Faith, full of Hope and full of Love.
John 16: 20 – 22
“I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”
How do they decaffeinate coffee? Do they line up all the little beans, point a gun at them and say, "Gimme your caffeine!"?
As Summer draws to a close and hints of Autumn fill the air, I am reminded that the Holidays are fast approaching. I smile as I let my mind wander to Holidays past filled with joy, family, celebration, food...and "But Waits."
What is a "But, Wait?" It's not a new exercise apparatus capable of giving you buns of steel in only 3 weeks. I'm talking about gifts I get at Christmas. Maybe you have too.
A "But Wait" is something someone gives you that is a duplicate of something they bought that they got for free. It's the "there's more" at the end of those infomercials. All someone did was pay separate shipping and handling to get it...and then they wrapped it up, but a bow on it and gave it to you.
"But Waits" cover a wide range of products, a virtual cornucopia of merchandise that can easily be described in one word...Crap!
Stuff like steak knives that cut through a brick on tv, but break when you try to cut into a tomato; portable vacuum cleaners that the advertisements show lifting a bowling ball off the ground, but yours can't pick up a fly turd; and my personal favorite...toothpaste dispensers you hang on your bathroom wall that squirt a perfect blob of your favorite toothpaste onto the brush so, God forbid, you don't have to squeeze the tube and do it yourself.
You can get two of each of the above items for only $19.95, but you have to act now.
Last year I got something called a Topsy Turvey for Christmas. You fill it with dirt, stick a tomato plant in it and hang this thing six feet off the ground somewhere. It's suppose to grow tomato plants...upside down. Fortunately, my family wasn't depending on me for a big tomato crop this year.
Thanks for the great gift Aunt Gurtie.
I never realized how big of a problem this is, but it appears that America is one constipated country. How else can you explain all the recent tv commercials and other media advertisements for products that guarantee they will help all of us poop again?
For example, Mrs. Haywood and I were watching tv the other night and every break was an Activia commercial starring Jamie Lee Curtis (editor's note: Jamie...you know your career is in "the crapper" when you have to support yourself by doing yogurt commercials where they have you sitting on a couch giving advice to someone who is having trouble poopin).
Anyhow...I guess this new Activia yogurt contains a miracle ingredient made up of bacteria cultures called "bifidus regularis". hehehehe...that's right...bifidus regularis. I guess this stuff will correct whatever it is causing the problem impacting your quality of life...not to mention your colon.
I'm weighing in on this because I think the folks at Activia are trying to pull a fast one here by giving a fancy name to some ingredient you can probably get in any over-the-counter laxative. If they were creative, and really wanted to increase sales of their yogurt, they should have named their miracle ingredient "poopus onschedulemyass"...that would have gotten everyone's attention.
If you are feeling a little "stifled," then I have a couple of quicker, cheaper and much more effective options for you...
Try eating an Egg McMuffin, or a bag of Baked Flamin Hot Cheetos (only 1/2 the fat), or head on over to your favorite mexican restaurant and order the "Lava FLow Combo Platter". You're in luck if it's college football season...just watch a University of Michigan game.
Here's something that never fails...dinner at my Grandmother's house on Tuesdays. That's stuffed cabbage night. Thank God the ride back to my house is a short one.