Evening and Spring: Margaret Hessler (Nana) Morris

This isn't a Eulogy, because my Nana's not gone, soon, but not yet. But that's Ok, because I come here to praise her, not to bury her.

I said goodbye today, over the phone. It wasn't easy, it shouldn't be easy, but it was fulfilling. I felt relief, I suppose I've made my peace now. I'll still feel grief, we all will, but I do feel joy as well.

I've felt very sad that Nana has had to linger, yet now I realize that this is a blessing, and not a curse, for all the people who's lives she touched have come, called, and told her how much she means to them.

I suppose it is like when a president dies, and the nation mourns, and people file along to say their farewells to a body in state. But my Nana's not dead. She knows that there are dozens and dozens of people, weeping, laughing, remembering all that she did for them.

We always wonder, what will My passing be like? How will people remember My life? Well now she knows, and that rememberence is with fondness and profound love. She proved that one good person can touch so many lives, and change them for the better. It's a lesson we all should know, but often don't remember. If anything, then THAT was her legacy. A legacy of love, generosity, kindness, and forgiveness.

While it is evening for her now, and her long day is almost ended, for us it may feel like winter, yet it isn't, it's spring. Her long spring is just beginning, and it's time to say farewell to the shadowlands.

Goodbye, we will all miss you, but we will remember everything with Joy of a life well lived.