Thursday, March 5, 2015
Dear Ted and McCarthy family, It is with deep regret I offer my words, unable to be with you today in person to celebrate and honor Helen’s life. A great matriarch with a loving heart of gold, she immediately accepted me without judgment and made me feel like part of the family, and for that I am forever grateful. There is so much we can say about how tremendous a person she was, the positive impact she has had on all of our lives, and of how she will be missed. She was thoughtful, knowing and understanding. She was always sensitive, compassionate, and empathetic towards others. She was real, with-it, and down-to-earth. She could easily connect and level with anyone of any age on any subject. She never forgot a birthday or occasion, and always put in a lot of thought and consideration into the gifts she would give. She had a psychic connection to the earth and could always sense what the weather was going to be. She always knew the best way to arrange objects in a room, even if things just needed to be shuffled around a little. Her effort and commitment to preparing Sunday diner and hosting the family was outstanding. She had a hidden child-like passion for adventure, which helped keep her young at heart, and she loved gallivanting, yard sales and bargain hunting. She could be cunning, clever, and sneaky when she needed to be, but she would do it with class, elegance, and grace. She was innocent, dignified, and justified in her opinion, whatever it may be, simply because of her experience and understanding. She had a rare, genuine, loving quality that was obvious in that witnessing it you knew she had put everyone before herself. You knew she was on your team, that she had your back, and that she was watching out for you. She was like everyone’s mother, and she loved all of us. She was a very lovable person, and was loved by everyone. She was the source of a lot of love, like the root of a tree, and no doubt that love was returned. That love manifests and resonates within the members of the family, within friends and relations, and it has built strong bonds that hold us all together in times of joy and in times of pain and sorrow. We will always love her, and will still see her in the faces and personalities of her descendants, our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She will be greatly missed, but will live on always in our hearts, and we will cherish our memories of her forever.
