Update 12-22-09

Hi,

I know that many of you are snowed in, and Tom and I are trying to beat a storm to get to his family for the holidays, so we're leaving early.  This week's update was going to be sent tonight anyway, so now it's a little ahead of that.  And it's a sweet piece written by Evelyn Roedel Read, class of '59, about her mother.  It should warm everyone nicely.

Happy holidays, of course, and there seem to be many of them.  Drive carefully, shovel safely, and relax.  Next week's update may be a day-or-two late.

From Evelyn:  On December 7, 2009, I lost my very best friend, my wonderful Mother, Evelyn Theresa Weber Roedel. She died peacefully in her sleep as she had wished.
     For some time now she has said that she would just like to close her eyes and not wake up. "Mom, you can't die!" I would tell her and she would reply: "You don't want me to die because then you'll be an orphan!"  So, here I am, almost 68...an orphan.
     It was frustrating for her to need her wheelchair 24/7 to get around because of advanced Parkinson's and a severely curved spine that caused an imbalance resulting in falls when transferring.
     She was so worried about my health problems  this year... especially  worried that I would die before she died when I was diagnosed with lung cancer . So I said: "Let's make a deal, Mom. YOU don't die and I don't die." But God took her home to be with her son, husband, parents, grandparents, sisters and friends. That is what she wanted.
     In Mom's high school yearbook by her picture are the words:
                     Blond Evelyn
                     So happy and so gay,
                     Laughs at life
                     And merrily goes her way.
     That was my Mother. Mom was a very thoughtful, warm, wonderful and caring wife, mother, grandmother and aunt. She and Dad had been married 58 years and she took care of Dad at home when she was in her eighties so he wouldn't have to go into a nursing home. He had end stage Parkinson's, too, and it was very difficult for Mom. He hallucinated and often didn't know us. But she never complained.
     In the 58 years that they were married, Mom always put her husband and her children before herself. I never heard them argue or fight and it was very comforting growing up in such a loving and stable environment. As a teen I unexpectedly walked into the kitchen when Mom was hugging Dad as he returned home and her head was on his chest. Dad was embarrassed that I had seen this (coming from parents who were not demonstrative) and said to Mom startled: "What are you doing?" to which she lovingly replied "I am just listening to your heart !" What a wonderful thing, I thought, to see that my parents loved each other. It was so very reassuring.
     Mom was creative, artistic and talented, too. And she had a green thumb.
     During the war, she would accept discarded coats and clothing from friends and cut them apart to make little coats and outfits for me. She made mother/daughter matching dresses! For my high school senior dinner, she made a beautiful red  dress and for my prom, a white brocade sleeveless dress with emerald green trim to match some emerald green glass jewelry I had and loved.
     When Dad had his travel agency, Mom made many of her fancy dresses and suits  such as needed for the Captain's dinner. She knew there would be nobody there with the same outfit!  For her funeral, she picked out a very well tailored outfit that she had made.
     She made stuffed animals for us when we were little. When we were older and money was tight, she bought us inexpensive craft supplies and taught us craft ideas which we did in the cool basement when it was too hot to play outside in the summer. Many of those ideas I used when I taught first grade. She inspired me.
     Mom was an artist, too. She made beautiful oil and water color paintings from photos, pictures and other paintings....or just freehand.
     Mom enjoyed refinishing furniture at the summer house with her little electric sander....chairs, tables, etc. so that they were so smooth and very glossy. They looked better than new! Her work was done professionally!
     In earlier years, she and Dad would buy and fix up houses and resell them. Mom was there at night helping to paint all the rooms. She and Dad worked well together. They were very supportive of one another.
     When Mom and Dad bought their first home in Valley Stream in May of  1950, Mom had a wonderful time planting all kinds of flowers and fruit trees. When she moved to Leisure Glen in Ridge in 1996, she started propagating African violets and there were 19 healthy plants in her kitchen area full of blooms of multiple colors. She certainly had a green thumb!
     A week before Mom died, a former first grade student of mine, Taylor Licausi, now in Harvard, came with his mother to visit Mom and me at Mom's home. Taylor has been an angel in my life since first grade always caring about others including both Mom and me. When Mom had breast cancer and when she broke her leg, he would instant message me asking how she was doing and reminding me that he had her in his prayers. His prayers worked. She survived the cancer and her leg healed nicely.
     So last Monday, Nov. 23rd, Taylor and Mom finally met. As he was leaving, he took some pictures of us....Mom, Joe and me.  We weren't prepared...no fancy dressy clothing, no makeup or fancy hairdos but I am enclosing two of them. These are the last pictures taken of Mom. Thank you, Taylor.
     I will miss giving Mom a kiss hello every day and a kiss good-bye. I will miss telling her, in person, that I love her. I will miss seeing her wonderful smile just seeing me. But I will hold so many wonderful memories dear in my heart and, I thank God for letting me have her for almost 68 years. I am truly blessed.

Evelyn later added:  What I wrote about my mother is not too personal for the newsletter, and I'd be pleased for people read about her.  Could you also mention that she was the mother of the late Walter Paul Roedel, class of '61.
     Before her funeral, I left this story for the minister to read, so he would know something about my mother since he didn't know her.  He took it out of the room and returned in three minutes and read it word for word.  I hope Mom heard him!  The minister's name was Richard Hill, the name of her late sister's husband and their late son, Richard.
     Today, Mom was buried, and I think she would have been very happy to know that the limo driver was named Walter, as were my grandfather, father, and brother.  Also coincidentally, December 7th, 1941 was my mother's due date for me.  I am so glad I waited until the 24th to arrive.  It would have been worse to have her die on my birthday.
    Love, thoughts, and prayers to all.

The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65.blogspot.com

The South '65 photo site:  picasaweb.google.com/SouthHS65


Rich