Jane

"And can it be that in a world so full and busy, the loss of one creature makes a void in any heart, so wide and deep that nothing but the width and depth of eternity can fill it up! "

It is with heartfelt sympathy that I write of Jane's passing. She was a teen-ager when she first came to our attention, she was a classmate and friend of Karen's at Assumption. They were typical teen-agers of that era. Mike and Jane started dating and in 1961 she married Mike and became a member of the family. Our daughter-in-law.

She was a very talented person. She loved to sew and could make just about any garment that she set her mind to. Her artistic abilities were directed to creating objects of art that all could enjoy, she loved classical music and kept the classical music station on in her car at all times. Her own sense of style was apparent in her own clothing. She always had the right accessories and always wore coordinated outfits.

She made rosary beads for all the nieces and nephews and for her young brother-in-law when they made their first Communion, she made jewelry for all of us. I have necklaces and bracelets that she made for me. A few of the flower arrangements and the vases in my house were made by Jane.

When I had to have an ostomy after my colon surgery, the medical people said I should have someone in my family learn how to maintain it and assist me in adapting to the monumental life change. Jane volunteered. She spent hours and days at my bedside, she sat in on the instructions that were necessary, she supported me during my adjustment period. She was with me when I had to do it solo for the first time, we stuck together through trial and error; believe me there were many errors and we would laugh our way through. We could have named it," Lucy and Ethel apply an ostomy bag!" We finally, gradually mastered the technique but it was not something that we could boast about to the family and the general population. It was our accomplishment and we were proud of it!

She would come everyday about noon and bring her own lunch and prepared to fix mine for me. She would sit in my room and eat while I ate. We had many intimate conversations and many opportunities to laugh, mostly at ourselves but sometimes at others. Doc was usually downstairs and he appreciated the fact that Jane was with me. He would come upstairs occasionally to see what was so funny but he didn't always get our humor.

As I grew stronger, she encouraged me to get out of the bed and dress and we would go on little sojourns. Sometimes to Walmart, lots of visits to Walmart, they had just opened and there was a bench in the main aisle that I could sit on and rest when I got tired and she would go off and do her shopping and come back and check on me. We went to Target, and my first trip ever to Whole Foods, to Rainbow Blossom and any place else we could think of. Gradually she helped me build my strength up and thereby recover. What would I have done without her?

After her dreadful illness and seven months of hospitalization and more months of recovery she once again called me after Doc's death and my retirement and we went off to the movies together and visited knitting shops to buy yarn to continue the knitting projects we had started and sometimes finished while I was recuperating. We compared quilting accomplishments and other activities. She promptly submitted her recipes for the Family Cookbook I am writing. She was one of a kind.

Love is a behavior, not a feeling. She truly loved. She was not a fragile soul, she was tough to the end and I hope God puts her to work, she's up to the task. Rest in peace,Jane. Ciao