Below is a post from my father, the author of the blog This Is Me. I have been asked to put this on Meander With Me on behalf of him and the rest of our family.
This is me. On the morning of Saint Patrick’s Day, a lady named Gallagher was welcomed into Heaven. It is my sad obligation to inform you that my Mother, Mary Alice Gallagher Kaufman, “slipped the surly bounds of earth and touched the face of God”. About two weeks shy of her 90th birthday, Mom began to experience problems which led us to believe that she had suffered a stroke. After moving to Hanover Pennsylvania to live with my sister Barb, her condition degraded precipitously over the course of four or five weeks. An M.R.I. showed that Mom had developed a brain tumor. Mom had insisted long ago that she should never be kept alive with tubes and machines. As her condition did not allow for aggressive treatment, and in keeping with her wishes, nature was allowed to take its course. We were privileged to be able to spend several weekends with her while she was cognizant of what was going on around her. She was able to sit with us and enjoy the conversation and laughter, while delighting in a glass of wine and the fire softly burning in the fireplace. A great mind has been stilled, and a feisty lady is no more. On behalf of the family, I wish to thank all of the faithful readers of “Meander With Me”. You made her happy, and for that you have our gratitude. For my siblings, Bonnie Thomen, Jack Kaufman, Barb Boyer, Bev Kaufman, and Bette Rolli, I am making this final farewell in “Meander With Me”. In sadness, Carl Kaufman
my deepest condolences to the entire family – but i hope you know that you got it right. the hardest part of growing up is saying goodbye to your parents. my father has been gone seven years now, and i still miss him.
your mother was a remarkable woman – and her ‘meanderings’ gave me hope and inspiration. thank you for the update, and all the best to you.
Deepest sympathy to you and your family. Mary will truly be missed. Her writings have been a source of inspiration, joy, and wisdom for the last few years. A woman of great wisdom, and a true gift for storytelling. I shall miss her presence. She has been a blessing to many.
May her strength and love sustain you in these troubled times.
Blessings, C.
Sincere sympathy to Mary’s family. May she sleep in peace, awaiting the resurrection.
The Bible assures us that the time will come when “death will be no more,” so no one will be growing old and then dying.
Revelation 21:4″God will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death. There will be no more sorrow nor crying. There will be no more pain! The former things have passed away.”
Death is our worst enemy. The human race has many other common enemies, such as sickness and old age, which also cause much suffering. God promises to vanquish them all, finally passing sentence on humans greatest foe.
1 Corinthians 15:26.“As the last enemy, death is to be brought to nothing.”
[The last enemy to be destroyed will be death.]
I hope to meet Mary and come to know her better, when we are all on the Paradise earth to come.
Farewell, dearest Mary. I loved you more than you could know. You offered me solace, hope and inspiration on many occasions. You will be greatly missed. Rest in peace, my friend.
Much love to your family XXX
I wasn’t a frequent visitor to Mary’s blog but I was an admirer all the same. I hope that happiness will be in all her days now, at peace and in the light on the other side.
God speed and hugs to her family, Geraldine
http://www.mypoeticpath.wordpress.com
I admired Mary very much. We should all be lucky enough to be so wise.
Please accept my deepest condolences – I loved blogging with Mary and emailing back and forth with her. She was a lovely lady full of joy and life and brought many a smile to me. Know that your family is in my thoughts and prayers and thank you for sharing her with us for even a little while.
Rest in Peace Mary. We will meet again one day my friend.
Blessings, Linda
I am so sorry to hear that Mary no longer graces this world with her precense. My heart goes out to her family and friends who will miss her.
I first met Mary a few years back in blog-world and felt like we connected. It seemed we had much in common, for being so many years apart in age, and coming from such different background. I always enjoyed the way she was so funny, smart, blunt, yet obviously a caring soul. One of her first comments on my now old blog was this:
“I needed but a few minutes with you to know that I have found what the religiously-minded call, a “soul-mate”…. I’ll be back. Mary from Meander With Me”
and she did come back… and I’m glad she did. She was a “fiesty lady” – indeed, and while I didn’t “visit” with her as much as I now wish I had these last few months – we had many many discussions earlier on… and I did get to feel like I knew her. I now feel like I’ve lost a friend… but, will count myself among the lucky few on this earth who at least got to “meet” her.
My deepest condolences to you and your family and all who knew and loved Mary; what a gal! I’ll miss here presence here and her kind words and attention to Poetmeister.. on the road to Parnassus. I had just made her acquaintance and loved her instantly. This news of her passing really saddens me as I just returned after a long hiatus and dropped in to say ‘hello, I’m back, Mary!’ Mary had a lot of class, talent, wisdom, a sweet soul and great love for life. I shall miss you, Mary! Rest in peace now, sweet Mary. Your friend, janetleigh