Mam, everything good in me came from you. Your faith, your humor, your stubbornness — I claimed all of it. I will carry you forever.
Quote Wall
Heartfelt words of love, remembrance, and comfort.
Grace Thompson lived more life in 68 years than most people manage in a hundred. She is proof that how you live matters far more than how long.
Her laugh. God, her laugh. You could hear it from three rooms away and it made everything better immediately.
Her canvas of the lighthouse at Montauk still hangs in the waiting room of the pediatric ward. The children always ask about it. We tell them a kind nurse painted it.
Grace took care of me when I was eight and in the hospital for a month. I was terrified. She brought me a stuffed elephant and told me it was there to protect me. I still have it.
Grace was my mentor and my hero. She taught me that a good nurse heals the patient and comforts the family. She did both with such grace — fittingly.
Grace, you were my whole world. The house is too quiet, the mornings are too long, and I miss you with every breath. I will love you in every life.
Uncle Charlie taught me how to read a topographic map, how to identify a bird by its call, and how to be comfortable being the smartest person in the room without making anyone feel small.
I am a biologist because of Mr. Morrison. I told him that the year before he died. He cried, then said: Well, don't make me regret it. That was him exactly.
He let us dissect owl pellets on the first day of class every year. It was disgusting and we loved it. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Charlie, you were my partner, my best friend, and the funniest person I have ever known. Thirty years wasn't enough. Nothing would have been enough.
Mr. Callahan sang in his hospital room every morning. The other patients used to keep their doors open to hear him. He made that ward a better place just by being in it.
Tom, you were the loudest, funniest, most generous man I ever knew, and I got to be married to you for 48 years. I'd do it again in every lifetime.
Dad built things that lasted and so did he — in all of us. His hands, his patience, his integrity. We carry all of it.
Mamá, gracias por no rendirte nunca. Gracias por creer en nosotros cuando nosotros mismos dudábamos. Gracias por la mesa puesta, la ropa limpia y el abrazo a tiempo. Pero sobre todo, gracias por el ejemplo. Fuiste una mujer íntegra, trabajadora y llena de fe. Me enseñaste que con amor y perseverancia todo es posible. Ese legado vivirá en nosotros para siempre.
Fui vecina de doña Mariela durante casi treinta años y puedo decir con el corazón en la mano que fue una bendición tenerla cerca. Siempre lista para ayudar, siempre con una palabra amable, siempre pendiente de los demás. Su jardín era hermoso, como ella. Hay personas que dejan huella en todo lo que tocan, y ella era una de esas. Mi más sentido pésame a toda la familia.
Amiga de voz pausada y de consejos certeros. Te extrañaré...
Abueli, tú me enseñaste a leer. Tú me enseñaste a rezar. Tú me enseñaste que trabajar duro vale la pena y que tratar a los demás con respeto es lo más importante. Todo lo bueno que tengo te lo debo a ti. Ojalá algún día pueda ser para mis hijos la mitad de lo que fuiste para nosotros. Te amo y te voy a recordar siempre.