Bon Voyage
She was always stubborn and strong, but in recent months, has been slowing way down.
A couple of days ago, the nursing home phoned my parents to let them know the end was near, and that the priest had been called.
Yesterday I spent a couple of afternoon hours with her, and at one point, the nurse practitioner came to check on her. She listened for her pulse, then leaned back, smiling.
"You have a stronger ticker than I do, Maggie!" Aunt Maggie did not appear to acknowledge her, but I smiled.
This morning her ticker beat its last, sometime around 7 am. We knew it was coming...she lost all interest in eating, she stayed in her room (at the nursing home, where she lived for the past two years), and was steadily fading away. Whenever I would visit, I would offer to wheel her outside to get fresh air, but she always answered the same.
"Ahhhhh, let me think about it." And, she never did get outside.
I wanted to be there with her, til the end. I wanted to hold her hand as she left this world, but it was not meant to be. I pray that her guardian angel did the hand holding, to comfort and guide her as she made the transition from earth to eternity.
Aunt Maggie was born on April 10, ninety seven years ago. She was the oldest of six children of James and Ethel Wills Ryan. Maggie was initially named Velma, but when my grandparents went to the parish priest to have her baptized, they were told that they had to choose a Catholic saint's name. They officially changed her name to Margaret, but the family still knew her as Velma.
Growing up, I always heard my dad call her Velma, but my brothers and I called her Aunt Maggie. I thought the two names were interchangeable for most of my childhood.
Maggie never married, but boy, did she love babies and small children! Whenever a child was born, she was the first one in line to snuggle and hold the baby. When all my children were little, she enjoyed visiting them, and delighted in all their hugs and kisses. She never missed a birthday party, a baptism, a first Communion, or a Confirmation. Aunt Maggie loved her family.
I was her only niece. My aunt Pat had six sons, and my parents had me and my two brothers. When I was a little girl, Aunt Maggie enjoyed giving me baby dolls. She would tell me about how my deceased grandma (she passed when I was not quite two) would have lavished me with dolls, because she loved dolls. (I loved dolls, too...still do!)
She had a grandmotherly quality to her. She was 43 years old when I was born, so I never saw her in her youth. My brothers and I used to get a kick out of her antics. I remember she would pop out her dentures, before we knew what dentures were. In amazement, we would ask, "How do you do that?!". She never gave away the secret.
One of the things she would say to us was, "I don't know about you guys." That was when we would try to do something we thought was daring or shocking. We delighted in seeing her feign surprise.
I remember sitting on the living room floor with my brothers, playing a board game. She sat in a chair nearby, so we invited her to come play with us. She told us, "If I got down on the floor with you, I'd never be able to get back up." We thought that was the funniest thing ever.
Aunt Maggie was half Irish, and half German. She liked a strong cup of coffee, and had a devil of a sweet tooth. She was generous with food, always offering us some treat when we visited. Her favorite ice cream flavor was strawberry, and she loved a good doughnut.
"Do you want a ham-sam?", she would ask around the holidays. She reheated foods in "the mike". And, if you offered her a slice of pizza, she would say, "I like a good piece of petes." Maggie watched boxing and football on tv, and closely followed current events.
She would call some politicians "Old good for nothing", or other colorful names that never crossed the line into the vulgar or profane.
In her younger senior years, into her 70s (at least) she cleaned for Sacred Heart School, Church, and rectory, in Sharon. She was one of a dying breed of women who went monthly for a shampoo and set at the beauty parlor.
Every so often, Maggie would give me little feminine gifts. A bottle of cologne, a pretty piece of jewelry, a fragrant body powder. She was not one to use any of these types of things herself, but would pass them on to me.
Aunt Maggie had a wonderful sense of humor. She smiled and laughed all the time. That is one of the things I will miss the most. We frequently heard stories about "the good old days", when she would tell us how bologna was only a nickel a pound "in her day".
Because she was 13 years older than my father, and 15 years older than their youngest brother, she was like a little mother to them. She took them places, and doted on them when they were boys.
Although she seemed to be in a non responsive state the past few days, she would reach and grasp at her neck. I think she was checking to see if she still wore the brown scapular. I would guide her fingers until she could feel it, and reassure her, "Yes, your scapular is still there, Aunt Maggie.".
Yesterday, when the NA's came in to wash her up, I saw that her right hand was grasping onto her rosary beads. What a sign for me! She was a woman of powerful faith, someone I could always count on to pray for me and my family.
Her priest gave her the last rites on Monday, we gave her several Divine Mercy Chaplets, prayed the prayers for the dying, and asked for the intercession of St. Joseph and her guardian angel.
Yesterday, she and I were all alone for a couple of hours, so I played some Irish songs and church hymns for her. Her eyebrows would move occasionally, and her eyes would blink from time to time. I believe she was happy to listen to those songs. She always loved music, especially those traditional Irish songs.
Bon voyage, dear aunt, I imagine you as being overjoyed to see your Creator and Savior, as well as all your siblings and parents, who passed on before you. Please tell them all "hello" for me, and watch over me and my family from your new home.
Eternal rest, grant unto her, and may the perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace, Amen.
A couple of days ago, the nursing home phoned my parents to let them know the end was near, and that the priest had been called.
Yesterday I spent a couple of afternoon hours with her, and at one point, the nurse practitioner came to check on her. She listened for her pulse, then leaned back, smiling.
"You have a stronger ticker than I do, Maggie!" Aunt Maggie did not appear to acknowledge her, but I smiled.
This morning her ticker beat its last, sometime around 7 am. We knew it was coming...she lost all interest in eating, she stayed in her room (at the nursing home, where she lived for the past two years), and was steadily fading away. Whenever I would visit, I would offer to wheel her outside to get fresh air, but she always answered the same.
"Ahhhhh, let me think about it." And, she never did get outside.
I wanted to be there with her, til the end. I wanted to hold her hand as she left this world, but it was not meant to be. I pray that her guardian angel did the hand holding, to comfort and guide her as she made the transition from earth to eternity.
Aunt Maggie was born on April 10, ninety seven years ago. She was the oldest of six children of James and Ethel Wills Ryan. Maggie was initially named Velma, but when my grandparents went to the parish priest to have her baptized, they were told that they had to choose a Catholic saint's name. They officially changed her name to Margaret, but the family still knew her as Velma.
Growing up, I always heard my dad call her Velma, but my brothers and I called her Aunt Maggie. I thought the two names were interchangeable for most of my childhood.
Maggie never married, but boy, did she love babies and small children! Whenever a child was born, she was the first one in line to snuggle and hold the baby. When all my children were little, she enjoyed visiting them, and delighted in all their hugs and kisses. She never missed a birthday party, a baptism, a first Communion, or a Confirmation. Aunt Maggie loved her family.
I was her only niece. My aunt Pat had six sons, and my parents had me and my two brothers. When I was a little girl, Aunt Maggie enjoyed giving me baby dolls. She would tell me about how my deceased grandma (she passed when I was not quite two) would have lavished me with dolls, because she loved dolls. (I loved dolls, too...still do!)
She had a grandmotherly quality to her. She was 43 years old when I was born, so I never saw her in her youth. My brothers and I used to get a kick out of her antics. I remember she would pop out her dentures, before we knew what dentures were. In amazement, we would ask, "How do you do that?!". She never gave away the secret.
One of the things she would say to us was, "I don't know about you guys." That was when we would try to do something we thought was daring or shocking. We delighted in seeing her feign surprise.
I remember sitting on the living room floor with my brothers, playing a board game. She sat in a chair nearby, so we invited her to come play with us. She told us, "If I got down on the floor with you, I'd never be able to get back up." We thought that was the funniest thing ever.
Aunt Maggie was half Irish, and half German. She liked a strong cup of coffee, and had a devil of a sweet tooth. She was generous with food, always offering us some treat when we visited. Her favorite ice cream flavor was strawberry, and she loved a good doughnut.
"Do you want a ham-sam?", she would ask around the holidays. She reheated foods in "the mike". And, if you offered her a slice of pizza, she would say, "I like a good piece of petes." Maggie watched boxing and football on tv, and closely followed current events.
She would call some politicians "Old good for nothing", or other colorful names that never crossed the line into the vulgar or profane.
In her younger senior years, into her 70s (at least) she cleaned for Sacred Heart School, Church, and rectory, in Sharon. She was one of a dying breed of women who went monthly for a shampoo and set at the beauty parlor.
Every so often, Maggie would give me little feminine gifts. A bottle of cologne, a pretty piece of jewelry, a fragrant body powder. She was not one to use any of these types of things herself, but would pass them on to me.
Aunt Maggie had a wonderful sense of humor. She smiled and laughed all the time. That is one of the things I will miss the most. We frequently heard stories about "the good old days", when she would tell us how bologna was only a nickel a pound "in her day".
Because she was 13 years older than my father, and 15 years older than their youngest brother, she was like a little mother to them. She took them places, and doted on them when they were boys.
Although she seemed to be in a non responsive state the past few days, she would reach and grasp at her neck. I think she was checking to see if she still wore the brown scapular. I would guide her fingers until she could feel it, and reassure her, "Yes, your scapular is still there, Aunt Maggie.".
Yesterday, when the NA's came in to wash her up, I saw that her right hand was grasping onto her rosary beads. What a sign for me! She was a woman of powerful faith, someone I could always count on to pray for me and my family.
Her priest gave her the last rites on Monday, we gave her several Divine Mercy Chaplets, prayed the prayers for the dying, and asked for the intercession of St. Joseph and her guardian angel.
Yesterday, she and I were all alone for a couple of hours, so I played some Irish songs and church hymns for her. Her eyebrows would move occasionally, and her eyes would blink from time to time. I believe she was happy to listen to those songs. She always loved music, especially those traditional Irish songs.
Bon voyage, dear aunt, I imagine you as being overjoyed to see your Creator and Savior, as well as all your siblings and parents, who passed on before you. Please tell them all "hello" for me, and watch over me and my family from your new home.
Eternal rest, grant unto her, and may the perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace, Amen.
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