<\/p>\n
My mother passed away one year ago today at age 65 a short three weeks after the death of my father who was 67. The following is a version of their story that I read at my mother’s funeral. I pray it is a fitting tribute, offered in love, on a sad day…<\/span><\/p>\n In Memory of Joan and Warren Burger<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0I opted for the beige suit because my mother always \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 I’d like to begin by As I reflect on my mother’s life, I can’t help but The only challenge would We could go the nostalgic Of course, this movie Set in the early 1970s, a (Of course I’d leave out As in any drama, things get Never one to do things Then again, we could opt We’d also need to invest And what about an epic Unfortunately, this movie But in the end, I think I Our heroine–our mother–living Despite it all, she spent A week ago yesterday she No doubt about it, Joan So, whether we choose to And, as the credits roll on this one, I am sure <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My mother passed away one year ago today at age 65 a short three weeks after the death of my father who was 67. The following is a version of their story that I read at my mother’s funeral. I pray it is a fitting tribute, offered in love, on a sad day… In Memory…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spiritual-growth"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nthought I wore a little too much black.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\nthanking you all for being with us today.\u00a0
\n<\/span>I am sure I can speak for my brothers Dean, Danny and Warren and my
\nsister Jennifer when I say that your presence here is a fitting tribute to my
\nmother; a woman who touched many people in so many different ways.\u00a0 <\/span>Nana, I love you.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nthink that it would make a great movie. There are so many vivid scenes and
\nstories, I am sure it would win an Oscar.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nbe choosing a genre.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nroute.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The movie could open with a close up on an attached house on E35th<\/sup>
\nStreet and Avenue S in Brooklyn.\u00a0 <\/span>Black
\nand white, of course–my mother was a sucker for a good black and white
\nmovie.\u00a0 <\/span>Filled with wholesome
\nscenes of simpler times, our heroine would hang out at the corner luncheonette
\nor act up out on the beach in Rockaway, all the while being be pursued by the handsome young
\nrogue from around the corner.\u00a0 <\/span>Like
\nany good old movie, she and the leading man fall in love and get married at the
\nend.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ncould also be a drama.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ncouple in their late 20s with five children risk it all for a better life in “the
\ncountry.”\u00a0 <\/span>They leave the familiar
\nin Brooklyn and build a home from scratch on the side of a mountain in a rural
\ntown where they know no one.\u00a0 <\/span>In
\nthis take, our heroine embraces country life, involves herself in activities
\nlike 4-H and PeeWee football for her kids and keeps the home fires burning
\nwhile her husband works two and three jobs to make ends meet.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthe huge vegetable garden and all of that incessant weeding just because I can…)\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\ntough.\u00a0 <\/span>When a serious injury
\nrenders her husband unable to work, our leading lady manages to juggle the
\ndemands of a young family and an injured husband while returning to college in
\nher 30s to become a nurse. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nhalf-way, she graduates, takes a job at Westchester Medical Center and moves
\nquickly through the ranks; eventually becoming a well-respected hospital
\nadministrator whose keen mind for troubleshooting results in significant
\nimprovements to processes and programs in many areas of the hospital.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nfor a family comedy, filled with scenes of laughter, dancing, singing and fun. Set
\nin a beautiful post-and-beam house with an indescribable view of the Warwick
\nValley or the O’Neill House or Eddy Farm, the budget for this one would be
\nastronomical.\u00a0 <\/span>We’d need to hire dozens
\nof extras to play our heroine’s parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters,
\nbrother, in-laws, children, grandchildren and family friends all of whom play key
\nroles in creating hilarious scenes and indelible memories over the years.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nin a tennis racquet–my mother’s favorite musical instrument…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nromance?\u00a0 <\/span>A touching love story of
\na couple of young kids from Brooklyn whose commitment to one another
\ntranscended challenges (and by challenges I mean home improvements) resulting
\nin a marriage that lasted for 46 wonderful years.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ncould also be cast as a tragedy–the story of a couple whose lives were cut way too
\nshort by an unrelenting string of devastating illnesses.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nwould write this screenplay as a story of inspiration…<\/span><\/p>\n
\nevery day of her life to the fullest against the backdrop of illness and the
\nuntimely death of her beloved Warren just three weeks ago.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nthe last months of her life overseeing the renovation of a bathroom, planning a
\nnew garden, throwing a Texas Hold-Em game at the house and making time to
\nconnect profoundly with her mother, her sisters, her brother, her children, her
\ngrandchildren and her friends.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nwas shopping for lamps, out to lunch eating enchiladas and making appointments
\nat the salon.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nBurger is an inspiration.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nremember the nostalgia, the drama, the comedy, the romance, the tragedy or the
\ninspiring example of my mother’s life, every movie, like every life, eventually
\ncomes to an end.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthat there is only one song that fits.\u00a0
\n<\/span>That is because, after all the years of singing it, it’s onIy now that I
\nknow how very true it is…I wouldn’t trade the silver in my mother’s hair for
\nall the gold in the world.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n