Memorial

Marge

Cathy and I recently visited the prep school Marge graduated from in Florida.  While we were there, Cathy described her mother to the guides as the last of her generation.  That got me thinking about what is defined by that.

Marge certainly didn't grow up in the typical American midwestern home of her day.  She was the only child of a busy working mom who divorced her father while she was at The Casements.  Marge must have felt out of place in a time when post-war Americans were building their futures so centered on home and family.

And then she met her Al, and anything was possible.  They were young, bright and ambitious.  They worked as a team while Al's career sent him across the country and the world.  But Al's world was centered on Marge and on the loving vision they shared.  He knew that Marge had things just right at home; that no matter how far he traveled or how long he was gone, that no matter where IBM sent him next, Marge would be there ready to welcome him into an oasis of order.  Marge was that woman who sat down with a calendar and recipes and made a monthly menu.  She organized a grocery list from that, and she bought what was needed to be ready for each evening's dinner.  It's nothing like the homes of today, where moms hustle in and juggle schedules for the kids, maybe serving food from the drive through or the microwave.

When we lost Al suddenly and unexpectedly, Marge's world was turned upside down.  My mother and I traveled across the country to be with her and her family as they began to deal with the new reality of life without her soul mate.  Marge was frail, and I don't think any of us expected her to do well.  We knew how much she missed Al, and her physical health wasn't good besides.  I know that I believed she would soon join Al in heaven.

Marge had the fighting spirit of that young girl inside her, though, and with the daily love and care supervised by Cathy and by Ron, she did get better.  She and Cathy became closer and closer.  She always knew that Ron was there, even when Cathy was away, and while she might grumble at him on some days, he would come back, day after day, for whatever she needed.

My husband and I last saw Marge in September.  I was amazed by her strength and her clarity of mind.  We sat and visited.  She gave me the Marge rundown on all the latest in her family, and she sent us off to Ron when she was done.  This was the strong lady, a member of the Greatest Generation, who knew with certainty that she had done her best, had left a strong legacy of work and family to the next generation and to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  This was a woman of faith, who was certain that she would be reunited with the love of her life in eternity.

We grieve with the rest of the family, especially with Ron and Cathy, who miss Marge on a daily basis, and with her friends, but we also celebrate with the faith that Al and Marge are together, sharing a laugh over old times and drawing strength and comfort from being together again.  Farewell, dear Marge.  We will meet again in glory.