Friday, June 12, 2020
Eulogy for Anne Rutherford
Today we join together in strength to support each other as we both honour and
celebrate Mom’s life… Gladys Anne Rutherford June 16, 1941 – June 06, 2020.
Let us not though, dwell on those two dates or the book ends of her life here on
earth. Her story has much more meaning than a simple “dash” in the middle of
those two numbers. There are many more meaningful chapters in between, that
included those of us who had our lives touched by her love, support and
friendship.
Like most of us, there were several bumps in the road along her journey. I do
think that her occasional stubbornness and feistiness (just being real here folks
because those that know her closely understand what I mean) actually helped her
cope and persevere despite those challenges she faced along the way.
Her driving force though was undoubtedly her extreme pride and love for her
entire family along with her deep faith in God. Early on with our immediate
family, gathering with Aunts, Uncles and cousins at Christmas gatherings on
Dolphin drive at Grandmas was always the highlight for us and especially for her.
Later on, while she was still able to, she loved when her children, grandchildren
and more recently great grandchildren would gather at her house where she
would often cook several main courses and desserts, just to make sure everyone
would enjoy the feast. Despite her relatively small house, she was always
welcoming her grandkids boyfriends or girlfriends and even mother-in laws
sometimes to join us to break bread during special occasions.
Let me just say that we definitely were not physically distancing in those days as
we were packed in pretty tight in her small house.
Some of you know that Mom thoroughly enjoyed writing poetry as an outlet to
express herself… I think, both creatively and emotionally. She also joined a few
online poetry groups who shared their writing craft with each other to provide
support, encouragement and feedback. She was also quite proud that she was
able to create a little hobby business where she would nicely frame and distribute
some of her poems and also share with family and friends.
In addition to Mom’s many strengths, math was definitely not her strongest suit.
I started to notice this fact early on when I was 5 or 6. You see every June, when
her birthday rolled around, I would ask her, “How old are you?” She said “I am
29.” The next year I asked her again, “ How old are you Mom?” She responded
without skipping a beat and with a straight face, “you know the answer, Jeffrey… I
am 29. Her answer each year after remained consistent and even though she
knew I had eventually caught on, it remained our running joke throughout the
years.
So Mom, I am sorry I won’t be able to wish you a happy 29th birthday this year…
at least in person… but as we gather to celebrate you and grieve for our loss, we
embark on our journey of the slow but steady transition from shedding tears of
sadness… to tears of joy, remembering the “Dash” and how that impacted all our
lives.
Rest in peace Mom as we take comfort in knowing Dad at your side once again.
(Eulogy given by your son, Jeff… on behalf of Dave, Randy and Ron.)
