We are all so very sad at the loss of Mom but I take some solace because I see Mom - I see aspects of Mom right here in all my sisters and brothers. So please indulge me while I share with you some of my memories of Mom. In her own unique way, Mom was a caretaker. I mean, she raised 7 kids. I remember when I was 4 or 5, I cut the tip of my finger off in the door because I was so excited to get to the blowup pool in the backyard. Mom just stuck it back on with band-aids, put me in bed, and gave me orange cremesicles and Coke for the next 2 days. It was awesome. And even though we lived on a government employees salary, she always made sure I had cotton socks and leather shoes because she was positive that would solve all my many foot problems. And in my early 20's after some surgery when I begged her for the painkillers, she restricted them because she said I'd heal more quickly without them - then went and made the special baths I needed and put me in them. She wasn't interested in masking my pain, she wanted to end it. When I look at Margaret I see that caretaker, most clearly in the way she took care of Mom in the final days. Margaret, thank you for easing Mom down the path and into the clearing. Mom had both a traditional and progressive view of spirituality. We were raised Catholic - with a twist. Whether she was drumming her way to health, or hanging dream catchers Mom was open to any spiritual philosophy. And if you had a problem she had a saint for it - lost something: St. Anthony, need to sell your house: bury St. Joseph in the yard. I see the same spiritual flexibility when I look at Anne, both the progressive and traditional. So thank you my Dreamboat Annie for keeping Mom's spirituality alive and well. Speaking of Dreamboat Annie, you can't think of Mom without thinking of music. She would burst into song anywhere. Like her operatic version of Riders on the Storm by the Doors while driving down the road. She played piano, guitar, even banjo - jump down turn around pick a bale of cotton and too-rah-loo-rah-loo-rah. Blues, jazz, show tunes. Richard, I see Mom's love of music alive and well in you today. The music that filled our childhood defines you as much as it did our mother. Thank you. There is music in literature as well and literature was a huge part of Mom's life. Stories in bed, How the Camel Got His Hump, The Jungle Book to her love of classics. Jane Austen, Walker Percy, Keats, any of the Shelly's, and all of the Bronte's, Yeats. Literature gave Mom a unique brand of optimism that gave her hope through the end when any sane person would have lost it. She had this hope - that things would always get better that I see and hear every time I talk to you Joey. And that makes sense because you must be the only person whose read Jane Austen more than Mom. Sometimes I thought I was a performer because Mom lived, in some ways through me, but looking back I can see that wasn't the case. Mom refitted and accessorized close to every costume I ever wore on stage. She turned her wedding negligee into my Santa Baby costume, she dyed one of my Chorus Line leotards like 4 times so I wouldn't look fat, and once when I was having trouble hitting a note she decided the way to fix that was with a new hairdo. But she wasn't living through me, she was giving me the best chance to be successful in my performing that she could. All of you with children are great parents, but in you Rita I see that dedication and the constant giving to make sure your children are a success. We can't talk about Mom without thinking of the holidays and traditions of our family. Those are the strongest memories for all of us. Our special birthday dinners from Anne's wine chicken and peach cake to Joey's fish sticks and chocolate tweed layer cake. Baking Christmas cookies, setting up the Creche Mom made, always an apple and an orange in our stockings, Easter baskets, Lemon Meringue pie, lasagna, Greenbriar picnics with the cheese doodles and lemonade from that pink jug, German sour cream twists, Grape pie, St. Patrick's Day with the corned beef and cabbage, Irish Soda bread, Irish coffee. What family celebrates the Epiphany? Ours! The spice cake and whoever got the nuts got to be the wise men and sing We 3 Kings of Orient Are. Sidecars, Amaretto, Creme de Menthe, Cosmo's. Friday night pizza and Kool-Aid. Everything homemade. Holiday memories not just for family but for any friends who needed family from time to time. Mom's Holiday table was open to all comers and everyone left happy. If you've never been to Mary's for a holiday, just show up you won't be turned away. And the food is so good! You'll be part of the family while you're there. So Mary thank you for keeping that most important aspect of Mom alive and well. When I look at my siblings I see the best aspects of my Mom and I see them improved upon. And isn't that the most you can hope from any parent? That they pass on the best of themselves to their children who can then improve upon it. Mom is alive and well in all us 7. And when I see my nieces and nephews I know she will live on long past us. The legacy of Mom lives in all of us and for that, I thank you all.