Shawn's Thoughts
What I said at my Mom's memorial before I played her duets with my father:
Although I have Amanda prepared to be my designated speaker in the event of a breakdown, I'm hoping that because I have Testosterone poisoning (about half the world has this as my friend Rachel says) I'll manage not to cry reading these several sentences that I wrote last night. Because Suzy, Anne, Lori, and the others have already captured much of the wonderful essence of my Mother and there's no way I can express to you in this short time how important she was to me, I'm not going to say too much. As most of you who know her well can probably guess, she was a great mother. But, I want to say it anyway, so you can hear it directly from her children... she was the most perfect mother I could have imagined. She gave us complete and total security in her love of us, inspired us to be creative, was not overly protective despite her love, encouraged strength and independence, and was a vibrant and fun presence in our lives. I loved her as much as is possible and will miss her terribly. Dad, with the unexpected passing of Mom, seeing how precarious life is, I think it's also important to tell you now that you've been the best dad that I could imagine... even if, when someone calls me funny you say, "looks aren't everything".
Rather than talk more, my father and I are going to play a suite of trumpet duets that she wrote about 30 years ago. Throughout the years, when my dad and I would play them in our basement, she would open the door from upstairs and shout, "Was that one of mine?" And we'd shout back that it was and she'd say, "I was such a genius!" I'd like to ask one thing before we play. My mother was endlessly supportive and always thought I was a great musician no matter how many notes I missed or how out of tune I played. In her honor, I'd like you to do the same.
The Duets
Although I have Amanda prepared to be my designated speaker in the event of a breakdown, I'm hoping that because I have Testosterone poisoning (about half the world has this as my friend Rachel says) I'll manage not to cry reading these several sentences that I wrote last night. Because Suzy, Anne, Lori, and the others have already captured much of the wonderful essence of my Mother and there's no way I can express to you in this short time how important she was to me, I'm not going to say too much. As most of you who know her well can probably guess, she was a great mother. But, I want to say it anyway, so you can hear it directly from her children... she was the most perfect mother I could have imagined. She gave us complete and total security in her love of us, inspired us to be creative, was not overly protective despite her love, encouraged strength and independence, and was a vibrant and fun presence in our lives. I loved her as much as is possible and will miss her terribly. Dad, with the unexpected passing of Mom, seeing how precarious life is, I think it's also important to tell you now that you've been the best dad that I could imagine... even if, when someone calls me funny you say, "looks aren't everything".
Rather than talk more, my father and I are going to play a suite of trumpet duets that she wrote about 30 years ago. Throughout the years, when my dad and I would play them in our basement, she would open the door from upstairs and shout, "Was that one of mine?" And we'd shout back that it was and she'd say, "I was such a genius!" I'd like to ask one thing before we play. My mother was endlessly supportive and always thought I was a great musician no matter how many notes I missed or how out of tune I played. In her honor, I'd like you to do the same.
The Duets
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