The Journey(con't)

  As the day wore on so did our nerves start to frey.  We all needed down time.  My dad went to bed he was very tired as I was but I had to look through the photo albums to pick out pictures for the memory boards to be on displayed at the funeral home.  As I looked through the albums at all of us I realized my mortality and began to ponder on what accomplishments had been made in my life thus far.  Looking and wondering what I could had done differently in my own life that may have made my mother more proud of me and that she did not have to worry so much about me. I have had a bit of a rough road the last five years, begining with losing my employment of 28years, going back to school only to find that the ecconomy was tanking and that my certification in the field of Medical Insurance billing and coding now required not only certification but a degree no less, I ended up jumping back into retail which was something I had said I did not want to do but had no choice   however, only part time the money is bad and the hours really are taxing I had no choice, my mom did feel bad about this and I wish things would had been different but they were not she left this life thinking I won't be able to survive without her and my dad that just breaks my heart.  Well after crying for about an hour I decided it was time for me to retire for the evening because the next few days were most likely going to be very long ones.

Getting up early was not something I was use to very often had to work the late shift quite frequently but got up the next day and proceeded to go to the church to pick up the readings and the music selections for my mothers mass.  I was to do the first reading at her funeral mass, my cousin Joseph was to do the second reading they were set to arrive on Wednesday from Washington D.C. with my moms yougest sister .  My mom's brother and his wife were to arrive on Tuesday afternoon so things were really rolling and fast.

We went to the cemetary with my dad to pick their plots out that was the only thing not drawn out.  My dad picked a piece of land(which he calls the farm) where my mom and he will lie for eternal rest in the Guradian Angel section it has beautiful trees she is burried under a magnificant oak so it is shaded in the summer.  It was cold and there was snow on the ground so we could not walk out to really see it.  The grave stone had been picked out and was to arrive shortly before her birthday that year, she would had been 75 on that birthday.  My sisters were off to the florists, I went home and my dad wanted to rest.  We put together the boards later that afternoon and then I had to sit down and write the Eulogy for my mom it took nearly two hours of sitting and wondering what to say.  But I did come up with a beautiful tribute. 

Born June 4,1935 Frances Moreira to Antonio and Lucy Moreira in Brooklyn New York.
The second of four children
Two sisters one older (Marie) one younger (Rosie)
One younger Brother Anthony
She loved being at her grandparents home.
She loved her Aunt Katie and Aunt Mary
She loved going shopping with her Aunt Mary in Manhattan.
She had many Aunts and Uncles and lots of cousins.
She was a graduate Prospect Park High School Brooklyn New York.
She walked through the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens everyday to go to high school.
Her first Job was in Manhattan with C.W. Woolworth and Co.
She met a good life long friend Marcella.
Secretary for Bigelow Sanford Carpet Company.
She met another lifelong friend Rose.
Met William Marshall in July of 1954 who proposed to Frances on their first real date and she accepted over pizza.
They were married the following April 17, 1955.
She came to Michigan to meet her in-laws for her honeymoon.
Frances began her married life living in New York for two years before coming to Michigan to start her family.
Frances became a mother for the first time in April 1958 to a daughter named Deborah Ann thirteen months later Cynthia Renee and then four years later to the youngest of the girls Mary Lucille.
She loved to go shopping with her girls for back to school clothes.
She got her hair done every Friday with Edna.
She did not like the winter and loved the spring and summer.
She was a city girl but appreciated what nature had to offer.
When her girls were school age you could always find Frances volunteering for something for her girls.
She was a Brownie Co-leader where she met a lifelong friend Helen.
She loved to decorate the house for Christmas and always baked the family favorite cookies and gave them to friends.
She worked for Honeywell as a secretary for a short time then worked for the Westland Chamber of Commerce.
She was an awesome Wife to William for 54  years.
She was a loving mother to her children Deborah, Cynthia and Mary.
She loved her Grandchildren Daniel, Michael and Sara.
She was a good mother in law to Tony and Ken.
And she had a deep faith in God and knew that when God came for her that her family would all be there we were all blessed to have known her and loved her she will be greatly missed by all who had the honor of knowing who she was

All who were there said it was a fitting tribute to a remarkable kind and loving women I