In her honor

Today, my heart is both happy and heavy.  My dad called and left me a message last night as my sister and I were giving my daughter a bath (she came over to drop off milk since I was a total dumbass and forgot to get it until it was WAY too late).  My dad helped to start a Knights of Columbus chapter in the church that we  used to attend; he was a pillar of that community and everyone knew his name.  The current Grand Knight – that’s the guy that heads up the chapter, leads the events, the Grand Poobah as it were – decided to dedicate their next blood drive to my mom.  He called my dad last night to say that they wanted to do the event in someone’s honor, someone that was important to their community and they picked her.  My eyes fill with tears as I type that.  They picked her.  My parents haven’t lived in that community for something like 7 years and yet, they are dedicating an event to her.  It is such a wonderful thing for them to do for her and for my dad, I can’t imagine how much this means to him.  To put into words what it means to me is pretty much impossible. 

This information evokes memories of my mom’s wake and how it felt to be surprised at every turn by people who came that I haven’t seen in years.  So many people love my dad, loved my mom, love my family and came to honor her because of some connection they had to us.  I remember standing in the sitting area, watching the slide show of pictures for the first time and tearing up as I saw how happy she was, how she looked holding my daughter, and knowing that I would never see it again in front of me.  I remember the men coming up to my dad, with such sorrow in their eyes and not knowing what to say; men that he may not have even seen in years but they came because it was my dad.  They were there for him and again, the tears fill my eyes knowing that he means so much to so many people.

It is a wonderful thing to be remembered and memorialized by those that you leave behind – for whatever reason.  I know she wouldn’t be thrilled that at some point she was probably mentioned as “Angelo’s wife” but in the end, I think she would be happy to have her memory honored in a community that loved and still continues to support my family and especially my dad. I think it would make her happy to know that he’s not alone.