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We are sorry for your loss and send you our support
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Readings from the Tucson Service
NURSE'S SONG
'No, no, let us play, for it is yet day, |
You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise.... — Maya Angelou
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Minnesota eulogy by Alan Storry
I'm under strict instructions to keep this light...and
short! So I'm going to try to keep it under 45
minutes.
Most of you know who I am, but for those who don't, my
name is "Barb's brother"
While I was preparing to do this, I decided to look up
the word "Eulogy" in the dictionary. I found that
there are a few different definitions. The one I
liked the best was: "The celebration of the life of
someone who has died."
And today we must truly make this a celebration of the
life of an extremely special person. One who was a
wonderful friend, aunt, cousin, sister, daughter and
wife.
I know many of you knew Barb, but for everyone, today
I hope to help you REALLY know Barb.
As difficult as this may be, I am going to try to
summarize Barb and the life she lead by categories.
Friend:
Barb had many friends, from a close group of high
school friends here in Madison to an equally close
group of friends in Tucson.
Growing up in Madison, Barb's circle of friends included
a group of girls who called themselves REPTILES. Barb
(Warehouse), Marsha (Musk), Peggy (Melon), Deb (Hen
Butt), Mary (Mill Hill), Val (Jane Head) Cindy
(Camper)- Barb Trost, Sue, Pam, Kim, Chris, Marg,
Beth, Linda.
Why did they call themselves Reptiles? Only they know
but evidently they sometime would line up with their
heads against the wall and make reptile sounds. I'm
not so sure that many of the Reptiles were too proud
of this club in their adult years, but I'm sure today
they are all proud members.
She cherished the friendships in high school and kept
in close contact with many of these friends.
Barb and Don also developed a rather large group of
close friends in the Tucson area. They were very
evident this last week in Tucson, sharing with us
pictures and stories of their escapades that could
make many people blush. They formed a group call the
FAC (Friday Afternoon Club). Every Friday, as many of
the group that could make it would meet at someone's
house to talk and just to be together.
Talents and Challenges:
Barb had both.
Barb was a very talented human being.
She was an accomplished nurse, a passionate teacher
and a caring mentor.
She was always up to speed on what was going on with
her relatives. She was the gatekeeper for our family
tree. She usually spent much of her time at a reunion
not only catching up on what others were up to, but
updating her Palm Pilot with the latest address and
phone number information, to ensure she could always
keep in contact with everyone.
She had many more talents, but because I am her
younger brother, I want to focus on some of her
challenges.
Barb couldn't whistle. I could.
Barb was not the type of person who would be asked to
join the choir. You have sopranos, altos, tenors,
basses and baritones...and then you have monotone.
Barb would sing monotone. And it never stopped her
from joining in and singing to her hearts content.
Barb was prone to motion sickness. This became
evident as a young child when the family to a car trip
somewhere, Barb usually brought along her favorite ice
cream bucket.
Whenever Barb would come home, I got to go pick her up
at the airport. She would (hopefully) proudly show me
her latest and greatest motion sickness prevention
device.
She could be very strange:
We've already addressed the Reptiles.
She also developed a reputation in Tucson for wearing
a Tiara and doing "The Queen.s Wave". Elbow, elbow,
wrist, wrist, pearls, pearls.
Another strange (Medical?) challenge: Barb had itchy
hair.
She had the weird habit of scratching her hair, while
in deep thought, talking, walking, reading, watching
TV.. Well. Pretty much all the time. Barb was known
as a teacher who loved props and interaction. I.d
like us all to become interactive. I want all of us
to itch our hair the way she did. If you have enough
hair to do it, grab a chunk of hair and wrap it around
your index finger, secure said hair with you middle
finger. With your thumbnail, it your hair in a way
that makes a squeaking sound. Repeat as necessary.
Family member:
I'd mentioned before Barb being the gatekeeper of
information on all our relatives.
Didn't have children of her own, but "adopted" her
nieces and nephews. She always knew what they were up
to. I know that when she came to visit my family, we
knew that she would want to take the kids somewhere to
do something new. This summer she took Pam and the
kids canoeing through Lake of the Isles. Afterwards,
she cooked beer chicken for us.
When dad was very sick with cancer, Barb came home for
an extended period to take care of him. She also did
the same for a cousin of ours who was also dealing
with terminal cancer.
Family was everything to her.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't make mention
of Don her husband. She loved this man dearly, and I
know that she had found her soul mate.
Conclusion
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