Winter is often a time of desolation in the Northeast with ice,snowstorms and frigid temperatures. For a Senior Citizen it can also be a time of desolation as the weather often keeps them home-bound. Their normally youthful cheery positive personalities take a back seat to the aches and pains that come with old age.
This week was especially tough with the passing of Marianna M.
M&M as we all like to call her was a feisty woman..She never wore her hearing aids so everything that she blurted out was loud and clear. She made sarcasm a science , but was as gracious and as kind as they come. Oh, how I liked her!
I called her "the doctor" because she could slice a cake or pie perfectly. Every piece was even. To watch her cut one of my messy cheesecakes with a piece of dental floss was incredible. She had hands like a surgeon. Many times she bailed me out at one of my parties.
Marianna was an avid Bingo, Bunco, and Mah-jong player and if she suspected you of cheating - you were doomed and everyone in the room knew it.
On Saturday, Father Sean read her Memorial Mass and there wasn't a dry eye in the chapel including Father Sean. It was a time of not only great sadness but also one of tremendous laughter. Her nephew told of the time when he was having dinner at his Aunt and Uncle's and he did not want to eat his veggies. Uncle Tom reminded him- that there were many people in Africa who were starving. John just thought :Well I'm only 5, but his next thought was:"I'd better eat them because Aunt Marianna packs a gun." Story after story from her family and friends told of a no-nonsense but kind individual.
Tonight, when I came to work Granny Annie brought me a metal spatula and a Angel candle that Marianna wanted me to have. I think I will have it engraved with this phrase: "From the doctor 1/23/11."
So here's to you- Marianna- May you rest in God's peace and presence.
