A Legacy Never Dies

The hardest part about living on the other side of world…is living on the other side of the world.

Since Friday, I have resisted the tug on my heart strings to board a plane and head to La Grange, Illinois to look into my grandmother’s (Maudie) eyes one last time and whisper, I love you.

My Maudie is the most beautiful woman, inside and out, she is elegant and poised, love emanates from her very being, and her piercing blue eyes warm your soul, simply stated, she is Love.

My grandmother has always had a special place in my heart, not only because she is my grandmother, but because she my is maternal connection on this world to my mother who passed when I was two years-old.

Yesterday, I received a call that Maudie had passed on to finish her earthly journey and continue her journey with God.

Of her life and her love, I would say,

I was truly blessed to have known and to have been loved by such a beautiful, God-fearing woman.

I love you, Maudie, Thank you for the legacy.  It is through you and Pop Pop that I have truly learned the art and importance of loving and being loved.

In 1996, my grandmother blessed each of her grandchildren and her husband with a hardbound copy of her memoirs, A Glimpse Into My Life.

A Glimpse Into My Life, is a irreplaceable, invaluable book filled with wisdom, history, and love – written in my grandmother’s handwriting – it’s something felt rather than to be expressed.

In her honor, I will share some of her words and wisdom, it is my wish that her life inspires others as it has inspired me, although she has passed her legacy lives on.

A Glimpse Into My Life, by Jean Condon Murphy

The inscription is simple yet profound,

            To Martha with Love,  Maudie

            -isolated moments of recognition-

The pages in this book are written randomly, not in any particular order. It is just remembering – “thinking back”, and passing it on.

The inscription is this book sums up her memoirs in a proverbial nutshell, isolated moments of recognition in no particular order, filled with wisdom that comes with living.

Saturday, I picked up A Glimpse Into My Life to feel connected to my Maudie in spirit, to lessen the distance.

There are no coincidences in life, I opened her book to page ninety-six, the insert on her mother, my great grandmother, Kathleen Victoria Fagan Condon.

Maudie spoke of her mother’s spirit, her love, her belief in God that strengthened her, her losses, her joys, what she brought to this world, and her passing.

Maudie shared the deep pain and sadness she felt that she was not physically with her mother, a pain I currently can relate to with my physical distance from her.

She then went on to say:

I think of my mother often. I also think about loneliness – how the body perhaps is not aching, but certainly the spirit is…

Her words are profound and they are exactly why I picked up A Glimpse Into My Life, my spirit yearned to feel that connection.

I learned early on it is possible to feel someone who is not physically present if you allow yourself to connect emotionally and spiritually – reading her memoirs allowed me to really feel her.

She continued on about my great grandmother’s legacy,

And she left a legacy…

It is good to have dreams – consider your skills and talents and use them wisely and well – be able to love, and to laugh above all, to serve with joy – to look forward to each tomorrow and never, never to despair.

It’s like my grandmother wrote her own epitaph, as she wrote this for her mother – these words sum up Maudie’s legacy, a legacy that is beautiful, eloquent, emanating in love and service.

I love you, Maudie…

            Your Legacy Lives on.