Calm, soothing voice.
Caring inviting smile.
Grace from another era,
Blessing our lives today.
Aunt Mildred loved and adored children,
Her children, their children and their children’s children.
Her nieces and nephews all.
They kept her young,
And she kept them on track.
Doting, but firm.
She loved her mother, Pep,
And carried her mother’s laughter in her heart,
From which it often exploded.
Aunt Mildred’s eyes lit up when retracing her childhood,
How she was raised through hardscrabble times,
The days of Hoover carts,
When a penny meant something to be saved,
And a nickel was joy in a bottle of soda.
Mildred loved and admired her brother.
She looked at Homer with the understanding and appreciation,
For what an older brother meant to a family that lost their father,
And how he turned difficulty into opportunity.
Tough times make for tight ties.
With Baby sister, Doris, and her big brother,
They bore through poverty, depending on each other to make it.
To handle their chores before school,
And to do their homework after.
And they did. Learning from Pep what it takes to make ends meet,
What it takes to meet the trials that come with life,
How to veer from the troubles that lay in the seduction of the corner pool hall.
And, what a smile, a laugh, a hug can do to pull them through.
Together.
Yes.
We’ve all lost so much in her passing,
A sister, a mother, an aunt, a friend.
But we maintain all that she’s passed along to us.
Her point of view of then and up to now.
Her timeless advice good for any modern changes we may encounter without her.
Her goodness.
Her memories.
Her touch.
And the sound of her voice.
We keep what she inspired in her family and friends alike.
Her hope.
Her grace.
And most certainly, her ever-enduring love for each of us for whom we are and will be.
Bless you, Aunt Mildred.
In your passing, you brought us all together in spirit and in body,
As we returned to our family home from far and wide to say goodbye,
In celebration of what you meant and gave to us.
Every hug. Every laugh. Every tear,
In your name.
Life of Riley 