Rewind: Remembering "Mary the Great"

We held a Memorial Celebration for my grandmother, Mary (aka Mary the Great) on Sunday, June 7th. It was such a wonderful afternoon! Mary didn't want a "funeral", so we had family and friends over to my mom's house. About fifty people joined us to spend time with one another, remember Mary, share memories of Mary, enjoy some food and wine, and just gather together. I put together a slide show with about 400 photos of Mary, and they ran on two TVs the whole time. It was wonderful to see everyone enjoy them.

Everyone there had a special place in Mary's heart. Some guests that I would consider "extra-special" would be my Great Uncle Charlie (Mary's only surviving brother) and Aunt Rita (Mary's sister in-law); Aunt Margaret (another of Mary's sisters in-law); Mary's longtime friend Jessie, and all of Mary's nieces and nephews. It was great for all of those first cousins to be together for the first time in years. Five generations of family were present in one room. Uncle Charlie (Mary's generation) ~ My mom & her siblings ~ My brother, a few of our cousins, and I ~ my cousin's daughter ~ my cousin's grandson

Here are a some photos:

Mary's children - my Aunt Cheryl, Mom, and Uncle David with a photo of Mary and flowers at the entry.

Mary's children, nieces & nephews (from L - R): Cheryl, Chris, Lyle, Randy, Nancy, Carla, David, Nada, Pat (my mom), and Bob

Three of the five generations - Will (Mary's great grandson/my nephew), Danielle (my SIL), Nate (Mary's great great grandson), and Kendra (Mary's great granddaughter/Nate's mom/my cousin Kelly's daughter)

Me spending some special time with Aunt Rita (R), Carla (L) & Tracye.

Aeva (my niece) was watching the slide show of Mary's photos with Mimi (my mom). Aeva said, "I love you Mary the Great," blew her a kiss and waved goodbye. It was so heartfelt and so sweet.

We gathered together at one point and shared some fond and funny memories of Mary. Aunt Margaret said one thing that stuck with me: "Mary showed us all how to live and how to die." How true that is. Aunt Rita and Uncle Charlie shared a few thoughts, and then they gave all of the female descendants of Mary a bracelet. It is a silver, cuff-style bracelet with the beginning of the Serenity Prayer. Mary had one before she died, which my mom now wears.

After most everyone left, our immediate family sat down and watched a 25-minutes video that I made of some of Mary's photos to music. I think it took me something close to forever to put it together (partly because it was so difficult emotionally), but I had planned to do it for years. Watching the video was the first chance we actually grieved together, and it was so needed.

Looking back at the day, I know Mary would have been thrilled. I mentioned on more than one occasion that Mary found a comfy & reclining beachy-type chair, a big glass of cold gin & tonic with lime, and got everyone to join her while watching us all hang out and enjoy one another. Yes there were a few tears shed, but we were all so proud and honored to have been a part of Mary's life that it was hard to cry for long.

We miss you, Mary.