Eulogy for Mom

This is the Eulogy I gave at your funeral. I wanted to have it here. I know you would've loved it.

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On behalf of my mom and my family, thank you for coming here today to honor my mom. I wasn’t really sure what to say. There’s so much I could talk about...her beautiful smile.., her infectious laugh, her warm hugs, her never-ending optimism...her youthful spirit, her devotion to family, her love of bling, and shoes, and bling, and shoes...her love of shopping…did you know that she loved shopping? I mean, my goodness, when the CEOs of Kohls and Chicos called to express their condolences, I thought MAN, that is next-level, Mom!

There’s her beloved Redskins...the fun sayings she had...I don’t know if y’all are familiar with the phrase, “Good Lordy, Miss Agnes.”

There was a consistent thread running through my mom’s life...a thread of love. She loved deeply and unconditionally. I mean, that’s why you’re here. She loved all of us, so deeply. She loved each of you. That’s who she was. Someone said, “She never knew a stranger.”

She was never concerned with herself, she was more concerned with you. She had this sixth sense and could tell if something was wrong. Which, as a teenager I have to tell you was really annoying. Right, Sis? “Are you OK, sweetie?” SIGH, “Mom, I’m FINE!”

She loved this church so much. She loved her family, friends, her life...she loved the Lord. And when she loved, she loved completely. Love just kind of flowed out of her in all directions. As my wife said, she always erred on the side of love and generosity. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, what you drive, what you believe...she erred on the side of love.

But there was one person she loved more than anyone: Dad, she absolutely treasured you. And you gave her such a wonderful life; And you’ve given us such a wonderful life. Thank you.

I got to grow up with that. I grew up with my mom’s loving nature as my frame of reference for life. I feel so lucky to have that. I mean, most of the world isn’t like that. The world can be a pretty cruel place. We’ve seen it just this week. But imagine a world where everyone is a little more like my mom. Imagine a world where everyone tries to err on the side of love and generosity. That’s the world I want to live in. That’s the world we deserve. The world we need. Maybe that’s a tiny taste of what Heaven is like.

I think it’s why her loss feels so huge, it’s because her presence was so large, her absence is a big empty feeling.

I don’t know if any of you watch the show This Is Us..but my mom loved that show. We used to talk about it after every episode. So good. In the season opener this year, there was something that Rebecca said to her son Randall about her late husband Jack. She said, “Your father wasn’t perfect either, but he was pretty darn close.”

That was my mom. She wasn’t perfect, but she was pretty darn close.

Love deeply. Err on the side of love and generosity. What a legacy. May that be our legacy, too.

I have to leave you with a story: You all know my mom loved shopping, right? Did you know that? I wasn’t sure.

Anyway, she was a pro at catching sales. She was a total pro. Of course, my dad says she’d always say, “See, look how much money I saved,” and his reply was to hold out his hand and say, “Alright! Where is it!?” Anyway, as we were making final arrangements for mom at the cemetery, Kesha who was helping us informed us that they were running a promotion and that we would save 10% on mom’s plot. I turned to my dad and said, “I can’t believe it. Even in death, mom caught a sale.”

We love you and thank you all.