Speech I gave at Mom's Memorial
I personally would like to thank all of you who have come here today to honor the memory of our Mother, Sherry Raynor. The many tributes we have received are evidence to us of how much you loved and appreciated her. I know that many of you have memories of Mom that you will share with us around the tables downstairs, or withus privately. I look forward to hearing some of those memoires.
Some of you probably wonder how it feels to have been the catalyst for Mom's work. I tend not to think about it, the way I used to as a child, because I've come to believe each and everyone of us were a catalyst in who Mom came to be as a wife, a mother, a teacher, an educator, a humanitarian and an advocat.
I remember asking Mom once if she ever got tired, as many of you know she'd work nonstop for long periods of time. She actually yawned when she answered yes. I then asked her why she kept doing so much. Her response to me was, "Who else will do it?"
"Who else will do it?" Maybe that's the question we should all ask as we live out our own lives and leave behind our own legacies. For as many of you know, that's the way, Mom always lived her life. She lived by her belief just knowing she could do what she could to make this world a lot brighter place to live. Whether she was working with pre-school blind children and/or their families and teachers, flying to another country to give a speech, attending track meets, football games, concerts and plays in which her children were participating, she was always there.
I'm so glad Mom impacted so many lives with her sense of humor, her encouraging workds, her "tell it like it is" attitude, her willingness to fight for anything she felt was right. Whenever any of us think about and remember her, may we always remember to do what we do as if no one else can do it better.
Mom, we love you and we'll miss you. But, we will carry on the legacy you've left behind for all of us, to pursue and fulfil. our destinies. If we don't, then it's just as you said to me. "Who else will do it?"
Some of you probably wonder how it feels to have been the catalyst for Mom's work. I tend not to think about it, the way I used to as a child, because I've come to believe each and everyone of us were a catalyst in who Mom came to be as a wife, a mother, a teacher, an educator, a humanitarian and an advocat.
I remember asking Mom once if she ever got tired, as many of you know she'd work nonstop for long periods of time. She actually yawned when she answered yes. I then asked her why she kept doing so much. Her response to me was, "Who else will do it?"
"Who else will do it?" Maybe that's the question we should all ask as we live out our own lives and leave behind our own legacies. For as many of you know, that's the way, Mom always lived her life. She lived by her belief just knowing she could do what she could to make this world a lot brighter place to live. Whether she was working with pre-school blind children and/or their families and teachers, flying to another country to give a speech, attending track meets, football games, concerts and plays in which her children were participating, she was always there.
I'm so glad Mom impacted so many lives with her sense of humor, her encouraging workds, her "tell it like it is" attitude, her willingness to fight for anything she felt was right. Whenever any of us think about and remember her, may we always remember to do what we do as if no one else can do it better.
Mom, we love you and we'll miss you. But, we will carry on the legacy you've left behind for all of us, to pursue and fulfil. our destinies. If we don't, then it's just as you said to me. "Who else will do it?"
posted by Healing Song @ 7:34 AM
2 Comments:
At December 22, 2007 at 4:14 PM ,
Suzanne R said...
This is so eloquent and meaningful, Bea. I would have loved to know your mother, but I see a lot of her attributes in you. You are truly a precious person.
At December 24, 2007 at 8:19 PM ,
Healing Song said...
Thanks, Suzanne. I'd like to think I inherited the good traits from Mom, more than the bad ones.
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