Sunday, December 6, 2015
The is the Eulogy i wrote and read at the funeral.
Eulogy: June Rendall
June Marie; what an amazing MOM and what a lucky family we are to have had such a wonderful woman as our mother, grandmother, great grandmother, great great grandmother and everyone in between.
Mom cared about us all so much. She poked her nose into everyone’s life because she worried about everyone all the time. She worked so hard as a nurses aid and for all of us. Making home cooked meals all the time and baking bread, which reminds me of a little story I was told recently. She would stay up half the night baking bread a couple times a week but this one night she got all the loaves in the cupboards to rise and forgot and went to bed. The next morning the bread had risen out of the cupboards and all over the counters. I can almost hear her voice, freaking out when she had realized what had happened.
Honestly, I just don’t know how she did all she had to do. Why it all didn’t make her crazy. It was hard enough with just two children.
I’m sure we all remember the giant gardens and the assembly lines for processing cucumbers for relishes and sitting on the swings for hours shelling peas and breaking beans. And then there was the weeding. Tons and tons of weeding. And of course the preserves like peaches, pears and tomatoes. All with mom guiding everyone as to what was to be done next. The work was never done.
What a wonderful life we had. So much love and family and togetherness. I couldn’t imagine a better childhood.
I remember when Rick and I were young we would have triple decker peanut butter and jam sandwiches before bed. Apparently, this was not a new thing for our family. The older brothers, so I was told, did similar things. They would defy mom and refuse to go to bed until they finished eating an entire loaf of bread with PB and J or a whole pan of moms home make Chelsea buns she had just baked for the week just so they could stay up that much longer.
Again, how did she do it. How did she keep up with our hungry family and stay sane.
I don’t think she ever slept. She would steal my clothes in the night that I was planning to wear again, wash them and put them back clean and folded. When I was 15 and doing stupid things, she would somehow find out where I went. She broke into a locked downtown Owen Sound apartment building by climbing a fire escape, followed the noise, slammed open the door and came directly over without saying a word, grabbed my ear and dragged me out of there. She didn’t let go of my ear until we reached the car where dad was quietly waiting to drive us home. I’m sure you all have your own memories of similar experiences.
She loved us all so, so much. How will we ever live without her in our lives. MOM!!. You will be missed so so much. Words cannot express that. We will love you forever.
There is one last thing I’d like to say. I was recently given some advice that I found very helpful that I would like to share with all of you. Just look to your sister, your daughter, your brother, your son or anyone in our family and you will find a little of mom in every one of us.
