I would like to thank you all for coming here today.  I would just like to say a few things about my mom.  You know, I give presentations to large groups every day which I find very easy, but I haven’t stood in this same spot since 7th grade while I was at St. Mary’s School across the street, and now this is a lot more difficult. 

            St. Mary’s has always held a special place in my heart.  I spent eight of my most important school years here.  I learned how to read, to say please and thank you, to love others and most importantly to be responsible.  I was married here and my children were all baptized here.  At some point I will die here without regret mostly because of the woman who was my greatest supporter.

            My mom, one of my closest friends, died a few days ago of several health complications.  She would have been 80 years old in July.  She had challenges with her lungs, and kidneys, and in the end her heart finally gave out.  But, I am here to tell you that she didn’t die of a broken heart. No, in fact, she would tell you that she had a really good life.  Winchester had been a wonderful home for 40 years.  She had a marriage that lasted for 55 years; she had 4 children and 7 grandchildren.  During the first 20 years of her marriage she traveled all over the world with my dad and two older sisters while he was in the service.  She loved the romance of that time, and she was part of a generation that saved the world, certainly one of the greatest generations this country has ever known. 

            For those that did not know her well, she had many loves in her life besides her family.  There was jewelry, and crystal figurines, lions, astrology, mystery stories, old television shows, cooking, movies, her hometown of New York City, animals, and how can I forget Home Shopping Network, she was the queen of Home Shopping Network, just to name a few. 

            She really liked being a homebody, reading in the back room, or walking downtown, or doing things around the house, or relaxing on the porch.   She was fun, and funny, loving, warm and caring and I never met anyone that ever had a bad word to say about her.

            Before she retired she worked in a small office for a family owned Winchester business called Peterson Chair.  My two older sisters had starting working there part time at first back in the late 1960’s but as time went on my mom joined the company and then became a permanent fixture in this growing concern for over 20 years. 

            You know, the ancient Greeks never wrote obituaries.  They only asked one question when a person died - how much passion for life did that person have?  Well, I can tell you that my mom had a lot of passion, she gave unconditional love, and she made a difference in the lives of so many people.  Without her in this world my dad and three sisters wouldn’t have made a difference in the many people around the world that they have met.  And, without my mom, I don’t make a difference in hundreds of thousands of children’s lives, and maybe someday even millions of lives.  That is, what I would call living by objective, and a life filled by making a difference.

            When I was a child she would say to me, “Michael, dreams can’t come true, until you wake up.”  I’m pretty sure that was an original quote from her and it took me years to understand that, but now I live my life around that simple message.  Now I will say something to her, and it’s probably the reason so many of us stay Catholics or Christians.   “Mom, you are on the most exciting adventure of your entire existence.” 

            Mom, you were the love of my life.  See you again someday....”