The Faithfully Departed: Memories & Prayers

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Thank you all,
I am going to print these messages out when I have time, to save for our Memorial Book.

We have established an online Book Here
 
This is in memory of: my 1st husband, Chuck, who died Dec 5, 1991, my mother Maddie, who died Dec 5th, 2002, my father who died March 1st, 2003 and my dear co-worker who died Dec 5, 2005.
Dec 5th must be a very special day in heaven, lots of great people went home that day.
God bless all here who are remembering their loved ones.
maggiec
 
In Loving Memory of my Beloved Husband. 1942 - Dec. 13, 2005

"A Circle of unending love"



Looking at the pictures we had taken for our fortieth anniversary, I can hardly believe that the couple looking back at me is actually my husband and myself. The wrinkles on our faces , seem to have snuck up on us both since our wedding day.

Smiling to myself, I recall the young man that my brother brought home to dinner one night well over 42 years ago. It makes me giggle to recall how very irritated I was about HIS being invited to dinner at my house. I had already met the young man by chance a week earlier. I thought he was rude and obnoxious at the time. I rather wished him to Hades and hoped never to lay eyes on him again. Of course, since he became my brother’s best friend, the first impression gave way to finding him charming, and lovable over the course of the next several months. We fell in love and married the following year.

In the springtime of our marriage, nothing seemed impossible to us as we faced our future together. It would however, prove to be a marriage filled with many challenges. The different faith backgrounds would prove hard to overcome in regards to the sanctity of life, which was ingrained in my faith as a Catholic. In sickness and in health it would prove to be the crucible through which we would learn to love and to forgive.

The excitement of the birth of our first and second children was typical of most young married couples. The miracle of life gave us greater vision and commitment to each other and to our young ones. We looked forward to having at least one or two more children. Little could I envision the challenge, fear and heartbreak that the news of our third child’s conception would unleash in our lives in April of 1970.

On that day I was relishing the news from my doctor that we were expecting another child. My husband’s reaction when I told him was the first sign of the battles to come. He received the news with little reaction other than a shrug and he turned away as though it were nothing to get excited about. His only comment was, “We don’t need another child. Two are enough.” I was hurt by his reaction and very confused.

He had begun acting withdrawn and depressed a few weeks before that day. He had denied there was any problems each time I asked about his mood swing and I had thought surely this news would bring him out of his strange mood. In the first five and a half years of our marriage I had never seen him act this way. Our marriage had seemed so solid until this sudden turn of events.

The answer to this turn of events though would not be long in coming. Within hours of our conversation, I received a phone call that would turn my world and my marriage upside down.

I had just put the children down for their afternoon nap when the phone rang. The voice on the other end was serious and very professional in his manner. The man who called was a doctor and he was calling with a report about my husband’s biopsy. A biopsy I knew nothing about. At my rather startled reaction the doctor paused and said: “Christine," has your husband not said anything to you about this?” I stuttered out as best I could, “Well no, he hasn’t, what biopsy are you talking about?” To which he replied, “did you not know that your husband has hereditary cancer and that the scars on his body are previous surgery for this cancer?”

My heart felt as if it would stop from the shock of his words. How could this be? How could my beloved Gene have carried such a terrible secret all these years of our marriage without telling me? I had believed him when he told me the scars were from an accident when he was in the navy. It never occurred to me he would lie to me. I thought we shared everything with one another. Then the doctor said words, which almost turned me to stone. I could hardly believe what he was saying to me.
 
“ I must tell you that while we were able to get the cancer early this time, your husband has the worst case of dis-plastic pre-cancerous nevi I have ever seen. I don’t know how long he can live with this condition but I am certain that one day we will not be able to control the explosion of the nevi into too many cancerous lesions to stop it. I must also tell you that I advise you not to have children. This is an inherited cancer which he will pass on to any children you have. He evidently did not tell you that he had inherited this from his mother who died of it when he was young.”

Reeling from the shock of his words, I tearfully replied, “Doctor, we have two children and we are expecting our third this winter.” The professional voice on the other end of the phone answered back, “Then I must tell you that I advise that you abort this child. The child has better than a 50% chance of inheriting this. With each generation the onslaught is earlier. This child will probably succumb to cancer in early childhood. Normally abortion is not an option, but in these circumstances it can be done if you would like me to recommend you to a doctor. As to your other children, you need to have them tested for this. They very well may have inherited it too. ” At those words I said. “No thank you,” and hung up the phone.

The following hours of that day were spent feeling deep fear, confusion, and grief. Hours filled with trying to wrestle with the fact I would have to deliver the doctor’s message to my husband. A husband I found I barely knew after all. In the end I managed to scrape up enough courage and compassion to overlook my own pain and grief. I managed to calmly tell Gene of the doctor’s call and our conversation. I even managed not to show my anger and feelings of betrayal when Gene became sullen and said: “Well, at least take his advice and have an abortion.”

As the months passed, Gene continued to carry his fears in silence. He showed only cold resentment and anger toward the growing child I carried. My once loving husband became a stranger to me. This was a pregnancy I would spend trying to defend a child who perhaps would not live to grow into adulthood if the doctors were right.

The only clear thought, which ran through my mind from then on, was one of prayer. “Dear God, please heal us and make us a family again.”

When our child was born in January of 1971, my husband once again became the man I used to think I knew. As our last child struggled to be born 6 weeks after his due date my husband finally seemed to accept that life is precious no matter how it may appear to others. He finally seemed to gain the grace and faith to welcome this birth with joy. He was once again proud as punch and instantly in love with this small miracle of life God had given us.

As I reflect over that time so many years ago I am amazed at how God has been faithful to us even when our marriage seemed on the brink of destruction. God gave us the grace to forgive one another and to become one in heart and mind. All of our children are Gods miracle to us. We marvel at His guiding us through, especially when we see the wonderful young man our youngest son Russ has become. Together we pray that no matter the cost, all couples will be lead to say, “YES! To Life.”

God has sustained us through many cancer battles over the years. Our children are all grown up and so far healthy. Although they inherited the dis-plastic nevi they have had no cancer to date. As I write this reflection, my husband has once again come through a major cancer surgery. In forty one years we have fought the battle of 34 cancerous tumors and lesions. The last four of those have been over the last sixteen years and were considered terminal. But we have learned to love one another more dearly. To share our joy and our pain and face the future together, however long or short that may be. We have formed a circle of unending love made stronger by God’s abiding grace.​

Epitaph:

And today, we celebrate my Beloveds entry into Eternity. 12/13/05 he breathed his last and whispered with his last breath: " Jesus, I trust in You."
 
A prayer for the repose of the soul of Gene, the beloved husband of our dear friend Maggieodae:

Christ our eternal King and God, You have destroyed death and the devil by Your Cross and have restored man to life by Your Resurrection; give rest, Lord, to the soul of Your servant Gene who has fallen asleep, in Your Kingdom, where there is no pain, sorrow or suffering. In Your goodness and love for all men, pardon all the sins he has committed in thought word or deed, for there is no man or woman who lives and sins not, You only are without sin.

For You are the Resurrection, the Life, and Repose of Your servant Gene, departed this life, O Christ our God; and to You do we send up glory with Your Eternal Father and Your All-holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit; both now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Maggie,

In this time of grief, I pray that you find comfort in the promises of our Lord and Savior. At the hour of Divine Mercy, He passed from this world, and in so doing shed His innocent blood so that we might all share in His eternal glory. So, too, did your beloved Gene pass from this world during the hour of Divine Mercy, entrusting his soul to our beloved Savior. Take comfort in the promises of our Lord, who never leaves us, and tells us that we will one day be united again in glory.


*For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again; even so them who have slept through Jesus, will God bring with him. *

*For this we say unto you in the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them who have slept. *

*For the Lord himself shall come down from heaven with commandment, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead who are in Christ, shall rise first. *

*Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air, and so shall we be always with the Lord. *

Wherefore, comfort ye one another with these words.

1 Thesselonians 4:13-17
 
May the Lord bless and keep you/yours, Marie,
May He let His Face to shine upon you/yours,
May He grant you/yours His everlasting peace…:bowdown:

***It makes me giggle to recall how very irritated I was about HIS being invited to dinner at my house. I had already met the young man by chance a week earlier. I thought he was rude and obnoxious at the time. I rather wished him to Hades and hoped never to lay eyes on him again. ***

He just has to be french…!!!..😃
 
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Shoshana:
May the Lord bless and keep you/yours, Marie,
May He let His Face to shine upon you/yours,
May He grant you/yours His everlasting peace…:bowdown:

***It makes me giggle to recall how very irritated I was about HIS being invited to dinner at my house. I had already met the young man by chance a week earlier. I thought he was rude and obnoxious at the time. I rather wished him to Hades and hoped never to lay eyes on him again. ***

He just has to be french…!!!..😃
Worse yet! Fench/Canadian Indian. 😃
 
Dear Marie, Thank you for sharing such a beautiful testimony to LIFE. God is so good!! (when I looked at your pictures I didn’t even see the wrinkles, only the LOVE.) God bless you.
 
Eternal Memory to a grandfather I never knew.
Grandfather Edward (my father’s father) died on this date in 1958. Three years before I was born.

My father would tell me that he had a sense of humor, and I’ve seen the pictures of him posing with my father when dad come home from leave in 1943 from military camp.

Grandpa Edward, in Heaven, I hope to meet you for the first and only time, since eternity is forever!
 
My Jason died on May 3, 1998. He was 21 only 28 days until his 22nd birthday. He has a beautiful soul and kind heart. He was the central point in our family. He has a long list of accomplishments, the most important being…making us grandparents. Sierra was 2, Isaac was 7 months, and little Krista was born 7 months after he died. Amazing how she was born on the birthday of the last person to see him alive.Which also is the feast of Our Lady, December 12th. Little Sierra told us not to cry for her daddy because he was" in the light" and he was okay. We knew this wa s a message from heaven because how else would a little girl know this? We miss him and will never stop missing him.

My Jason, the Heart of Jesus is with you.
 
Today is the anniversary of my father(John’s) birth.
December 28, 1923 - September 19, 2002.
I pray for his intercession and his prayers for me on this day.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
Photo: Thanksgiving 1943 with his parents (my grandparents).
Edward on the right, is honored in memorial by me on December 19 and my grandmother Mary.
 
In Memory of my Father,

Thomas (December 28, 1920 – February 14, 1985)

Today is the Anniversary of my fathers birth. Dad would have been 85 years old.

Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

In Loving Memory
Almighty God, through the death of your Son on the cross, you have overcome death for us. Through his burial and resurrection from the dead you have made the grave a holy place and restored us to eternal life. We pray for those who died believing in Jesus and are buried with him in the hope of rising again. God of the living and the dead, may those who faithfully believed in you on earth praise you for ever in the joy of heaven. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen

Watch, O Lord (St. Augustine)
Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, and give Your angels and saints charge over those who sleep.
Tend Your sick ones, O Lord Christ.
Rest Your weary ones.
Bless Your dying ones.
Soothe Your suffering ones.
Pity Your afflicted ones.
Shield Your joyous ones, and all for Your love’s sake. Amen.
 
maggieodae

I seems that our fathers’ birthdays are the same day, three years apart. Let us pray for both of them.

Eternal Rest grant unto them, O Lord.
May they rest in peace.
Amen.

Fr. Bro.
 
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revejj2000:
maggieodae

I seems that our fathers’ birthdays are the same day, three years apart. Let us pray for both of them.

Eternal Rest grant unto them, O Lord.
May they rest in peace.
Amen.

Fr. Bro.
Yes, I noticed that. Been praying for your Da and mine all day. Sure do miss him. 😦
 
Hello,
I’m new here - I lost my Mom last week after she had a Blood Clot in her brain. She had surger, came out fine and when I went to see her, she was fluent in her speech and happy. From when I left her that day, she was never the same.
I spent evert moment I could find with her. She had several mini strokes and became so bad at the last week of her life, the doctor’s intubated her and I told them that is against her wishes in her Advanced Directives - so I had them move the tube. She was considered terminal.
I didn’t leave her side for the next four days at the hospital. At 2.45 AM I heard her labored breathing stop (I was awake, had just talke to the Chaplain) my legs grew weak and the nurses had to hold me up. A few minutes later I was lying next to her praying and talking to her. I did do the Chaplet of Divine Mercy - also, just talked of all of the things that came to mind of our times together. I held her and didn’t want to let go. I still can’t believe she’s gone. We werre so close for so many years. I miss her terribly. I always pray that she heard what I was saying to her in the last hours. All in all I feel I was blessed to have had the time, at that time, to spend with my Mom and best friend.
I pray she is in the Glory of Heaven.

May I ask that all try to remember her in your prayers.

I’m new here - I just found this forum - I think I was led here by the Holy Spirit.

Warm regards to all, susiesf.
 
Susiesf, I am sorry about your mom and I will offer a rosary for her today. I know your pain, I lost my mom 6 years ago. She had an inoperable brain tumor. She told me and my sister one night that our heavenly mother Mary came to her and told her it was time for her to go home.Mom told her she couldn’t leave her children but Mary assured her that we would be alright. Next day mom told us Mary was coming for her and she said good-bye to us and that she will always love us. we cried and we said no you can’t go. That night she worsened, she was so weak and she couldn’t swallow anymore. We never saw her awake after that. Dad called the doctor and he contacted hospice. They picked her up in an ambulance that night. Next day around 5:00 pm with me and my sister by her side, she took her last breath. We were holding her hand and in amazement we witnessed the room slowly fill with the scent of fresh flowers and it was coming from her chest. We knew at that point that Mary and her court of angels had come to take her by the hand. She knew Mary was coming for her and had told us the day before.My sister has not completely recovered and is still greiving deeply. I still grieve her and my son, some days are good and some days aren’t. But I will never stop praying the rosary.

We will see each other again.

May God bless you and your mother eternally. Ask her to pray for you and to share her peace with you.

Blessings
 
In remberance of everyone who passed away in 2005.
(I had a web page to post for those famous who passed away in 2005, but the link didn’t work.)
From Pope John Paul II to the homeless, let’s remember them all!
 
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