A Eulogy Excerpt: A Tribute To My Mother

A Eulogy Excerpt: Tribute To My Mother

Josephine Marie Lanzillotta (1914-2004)

A Parable: What a Son Learns From His Mother

A young woman sets her foot down on the path of life. When enduring its tests and trials, she asks “Is the way long?” And the angel of life said to her, “Yes. And the way is hard to adulthood, and to being a mother. But at the end, it will be better than the beginning.”

So the woman marries, and then becomes a mother… And she believes that there never could be anything better than those early days with her son…. She taught him, and played with him, and they talked about life… The sun shone on them, and life was good.

Then night came, and storms, and the path through life looked dark… And her child shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew close and covered him with her coat, and the boy said,” Mother, I am not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come,” and the Mother said, “This is better than the brightness of the day, for I have taught my son courage.”

And the morning came, and they continued down the road of life, and then there before them, there was a long, steep hill….

The boy climbed the hill, and the mother climbed the hill, but both were weary… She said to her son, “have a little patience, and soon we will be there.” So as the boy reached the top of the hill, he said to his mother, “I could not have done it without you!” And the mother, that evening, as she lay down and looked up at the stars, said,” This is a better day than the last, for my son has now learned fortitude in the face of hardness.”

And the days together went on, and the years past, and the son grew to be a man and his mother grew tired and older. When the way was hard, they would help each other, and when the way was rough, he would carry her….

At last, they came to a shining road, glistening and leading off to the clouds…. And the mother said,” I have reached the end of my journey, and now I know that the end is better than the beginning, for now my son can walk alone.” And the son said, “You will always walk with me, Mother. You will always be a living and loving presence in my life…..”

And this reflection I share with all of you who have lost their mothers:

“Mother of My birth, how long were we together in your love and adoration? How long in your life, in your care for me, through your long widowhood, and how I graciously did I fill your thought with your loving concern?

How could I ever repay or be grateful enough for your love and self-forgetting service? You taught me a kindness and a caring I could never fail to remember, or not be willing to share…

From the moment that commenced with my birth, we loved each other deeply-beyond words- and during these last few years, I breathed your pain and you shared my sufferings, it has been as if there was but one soul between us ….

I was alone with you when I was young, but now I will be alone forever. Earth will now become your mother, as you were mine, for you were my earth, my ground, my support, my comfort…

I now join all those who no longer have a maternal tie, whose memories, sorrows, and longings will fill the space where smiles, and hugs once were felt… And after a while…

It is my hope that grief will, in time, turn to gratitude, and to know that, throughout all the years of our togetherness, I have been greatly blessed.”

Antione de Saint Expury

Whatever we have known of such love, we are entrusted to keep and to share… Whatever we have loved becomes a part of us, touching us at the core our of lives; infused, blended, insupportably, for a mother’s love forms and fuses our personalities like no other. It is out of respect and affection, that I will carry that love with me; and thus will I be saved from any frozenness of heart; for while what was precious can be lost to touch and sight, what remains is the example of her unselfishness and her caring, which will always warm me, and urge me to show compassion and caring for others.

For we know, that it is from our experience of maternal affection, that beauty endures, goodness reigns, and that God’s other name is love.

Rest in peace, My Mama Mia