Here is the eulogy I presented at her celebration of life service:
My aunt was one of those people with a rare gift - she could walk
into any room and turn it into an instant party just by her presence. Her
personality was as big as her smile and bright as her hair and it makes us feel
her loss that much more keenly.
After my sister and I moved to
Toronto, my aunt became a second mother to us. The best time was our birthday
weekend, as our birthdays are less than a week apart. Aunt Liz treated us to
lunch, and the restaurants got increasingly fancier as we got older. For my
18th birthday, she took me to the old Silver Rail on Yonge Street for my first
grown-up drink.
Having worked as a cocktail waitress
for years, she was unfailingly polite and kind to servers and taught us to be
the same way. To this day, Melanie and I can go out and have wait staff tell us
how we made their day by being their best customers.
Many years later, I was able to repay the favour; I somehow got
tickets to see Swan Lake by the National Ballet on Aunt Liz's birthday and
there was no question I would be taking her. We went out for Mexican and
margaritas and then across the street to see the timeless story of the swan
queen. We both loved it! Several years later, she was my date to a Placido Domingo concert - and we both adored that!
It's a rare and precious thing to
have a second chance at love - but Aunt Liz and Uncle Roger are proof of the
saying that love is lovelier the second time around. Their devotion to each
other was tested in recent years due to illness, but it held fast. Uncle Roger,
I said this to you on the weekend, but I'll repeat it now with a room full of
witnesses - you're stuck with us.
My Wild Irish Clan has lost the
brightest star in the constellation, but she will always be a part of us.
I then read the poem "Song of the Star" by the American writer Suzy Kassem.
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