Eulogy for Mother :: Eulogies Eulogy

Eulogy for Mother Daughter of Teresa, granddaughter of Josefa, my mother, Natividad was born in El Paso, Texas on December 24th, 1921. She always told us that she was responsible for the rest of her sisters being born in this country. The family was on its way back to Mà ©xico because PD had closed the mine and was sending workers back to Mà ©xico. The family never got there because of my mother’s birth. She was the only one in her family who was not born in Morenci and although she made sure people knew she was born in Texas, she was very proud to be a â€Å"Morenci girl.† When I asked family members to describe my mother, they used many of the same terms: a private person, very shy, meek, humble, a caregiver, religious, loving, simple tastes, stubborn, intelligent, unassuming, frugal, timid, serious, modest, always put others ahead of herself, and most of all, she did not like being in the limelight. For their fiftieth wedding anniversary, Mama didn’t want us to make a big fiesta. We finally got her to agree to a simple renewal of their vows with only the immediate family present. For her eightieth birthday, we planned a big party with all the extended family invited. Again, she nixed the idea and we finally got her to agree to a small celebration with only her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. The party was planned for last Saturday when everyone could come from California, Nevada, and Texas. When I talked to her on her birthday, she told me, â€Å"Can we cancel the party? I feel too weak.† I told her I would not cancel it but postpone it until she felt better. Today we are all here to celebrate my mother’s 80 years of life. It’s not the party we had planned for, and there are many more people than my mother would have been comfortable with, but we’re all here to honor her memory. I know, Mama that you didn’t like to be i n the limelight but today, like it or not, the spotlight is on you. My mother was the fifth child of Teresa and Wenseslado. That put her in the middle of a family of ten children, nine of which survived to adulthood. Maybe being in the middle of such a large family accounted for her demeanor but I think it was also part of her nature.