Eulogies

By Gilbert Munoz

On my way up from California I was thinking of Mom and all the memories of my life with her and my family. Being on the road brought back some of the most memorable and enjoyable times in my life. We used to travel from Washington State to Texas up to North Dakota and back to California; it seemed like those trips lasted forever.

Every place we went Mom would find some piece of history or artifact that would keep my imagination and curiosity going. On our trips Mom would make me feel like I was part of everyplace we went, somehow we were connected to the culture or the history of a place and that we belonged there.

Every couple of years when we would move to a new place we only had each other as friends, so everyplace we moved to we were the new kids but Mom would make me feel at ease. I could always count on her to make me feel good about myself and calm me when I felt out of place.

Mom was always looking out for us; never forcing her ideals but encouraging us to do what was in our hearts. She would let us be adventurous and explore things but always had an eye on us to make sure we were safe.

As a child in Guam I remember one time a bunch of us kids were swimming in the ocean just playing on the shore. Mom was there watching all of us. I saw her not paying attention to me so I started to explore and went out a little deeper and soon I couldn’t touch the bottom and started to sink. I could see the surface and remember reaching for the light and just then I thought nobody was aware of where I was and a fear came over me. At that very moment Mom pulled me to the surface. I was maybe six years old and this was the first time I remember Mom saving my life. In the years to come mom has saved me many times not physically but emotionally. She was always there for me. It was as if she always had the right words to bring me back.

I also started to remember all the people mom had touched in all the places we lived and visited. Everyplace we stayed mom could talk for hours if it was family or friends she seemed to be a part of everybody’s life. I loved to hear all the stories from her past; from her family, my dad’s family, even the stories from our trips. I could listen to them over and over again because mom would bring them to life. Especially when it was something she was passionate about.

She would say all the time that she was born a century too late. She loved the old west and ancient history, she was fascinated by the ancient artifacts and the stories the pieces would tell. She loved the simplicity of everyday life back then.

As an archeologist in California I remember mom would go digging all day in the dirt for a small piece of bone fragment or bit of history and come home and talk for hours about it. Mom was never afraid of hard work and even loved it when it was working on something she cared about.

As I have gotten older and pursued my life and career we could be apart for a year at a time and when we would come up to visit it was like I had never left at all. We could talk and laugh and go over those same old stories I loved to hear. When my wife met my mom for the first time she was very nervous about what to expect but after talking for a little while it was as if my wife had a new mother and my mom treated her like a daughter from that time on. My wife’s parents also got to meet mom once before she got sick and were also worried about meeting my parents. Mom made them feel at ease and that they could talk, laugh, and enjoy each others company. Maria’s mom would tell me to say hi and prayed for her so they might meet again.

Our last visit up to see mom was just a couple of months ago. She was able to see and hold her new grandson Gilbert Jr. and all of us kids were able to sit and talk over some of those same old stories. I could see how she so wanted to talk and tell more but I feel like she just wanted to hear us talk and laugh by telling those same stories she told so well knowing we would remember them and tell them again and again.

I feel sad that I will not be able to see mom hold or play with Gilbert Jr. or tell those stories the way only mom could but I know in my heart she will be watching over all of us, especially her grandkids who she loved and cared for so much.

I will do my best to pass on to my family her love of life, to be passionate about the things you care about as she did, to follow your heart, and to always laugh.

You will be missed! I love you MOM.
 

By Gina Hollingsworth

First, I would like to thank my Aunt Carol for giving us all a few extra precious months with my mother, without you, she may not have had a chance at all. I will never be able to thank you enough for the extra time you gave us to spend with her.

I would also like to thank my sisters-in-law, Cathy and Maria, and my husband Jerald, without their love and support, not only for my mother, but for the whole family, this process would have been much more difficult.

We wanted to share some of our memories of my mother with all of you. One of the things I enjoyed most about my mother was the love that she shared with my Dad. I loved to sit back and watch my mother and father, it always amazed me how they still viewed each other as love struck 21-year-olds. {Side Note} After the funeral of my mother, my dad told me a story about one of their anniversaries. They went to this wonderful restaurant together that they both enjoyed tremendously. My father showed me two pictures, one before they went to the restaurant and one after they went to the restaurant. He asked me, what do you see different in the pictures? I said, you have a handkerchief in your coat pocket. He smiled with a big grin, said, it is not a handkerchief…. That is why I loved your mother so much, she always surprised me with cute little things. (Dad, I’ll keep what it was between the two of us) This is always what amazed me about my parents, after 40 years, they still acted like they did when they first got married, with so much love and respect. I used to love to watch my dad come up to my mom and smother her face in kisses and tickle her until she laughed. I remember talking to my mother when she was in the hospital and as she struggled through her days, most of her thoughts always came back to my father. She would tell me how much she loved him and would miss him and hoped that if she passed that he would be okay. I am so privileged and proud to have been a part of that love and special bond that they shared.

During my mother’s last hospital stay, I told my mother that if she did pass, I would always feel her presence whenever I was around my brothers. Greg has her fun wicked sense of humor and the ability to make a person laugh and smile no matter what the situation. He also has her gift of writing, be it a poem or a story. Gary has her sensitivity and caring for other people and the ability to make you feel at ease in any situation. He also has her sense of adventure and joy in trying anything new and exciting. Gilbert has her sense of determination, the ability to accomplish anything put in front of him and the willingness to help anyone less fortunate then him. At this point, my mother asked, well, what did I pass on to you? I sat back and thought for a moment and told her, you gave me your laugh. And as my brother and family can attest to, that laugh can make heads turn in a crowd or get you kicked out of just about anywhere. And as my mother use to say, when she and her siblings got together and you heard them laughing, the people in town would say, you know, the Olsen kids are all back in town.

As I tell most of my friends, growing up as me and my brothers did, having had to move around so often being in a military family, my mother became so many things to all four of us. She was our mother, father at times when my dad was deployed with the military, best friend, and confidant. The thing that was so great about my mother was that she was this way with so many other people too. I remember driving my mom around town right before she was getting ready to go to Portland to have her first transplant. She had just received a card from a family member and I was telling her that several people from different military bases that my parents had been stationed with all sent their love, prayers, and best wishes. My mother couldn’t believe that all these people still remembered her. I turned to her and said, you have never realized how many lives you have touched with your kindness and caring. My mom put her head down and started to cry and said she felt so blessed. I kept thinking to myself, just like mom, thinking she was blessed, when in all reality she had blessed so many other people’s lives with her generosity and kindness. My mother is and always will be the true embodiment of living lift to the fullest and I am so blessed to have been able to be a part of her life.
 

By Gregorio Munoz III

My mother passed on a lot of wisdom to me over the years; some of it simple, some profound. I may not have recognized how important some of it was at the time, but as I have grown, I’ve realized her words have all rung true.

Here are some of the things she has taught me that has had the most impact in my life:

•Things are not as bad as you think they are.
And if they are, well, you’ll just have to learn to handle it anyway.

•Drink lots of water.

•Be nice to your brother and sister.
They’ll be some of the few people that’ll forgive the unwise choices you made when you were younger.

•You can never have enough moist towelettes.

•You are smarter than you give yourself credit for.

•Respect women.
You may wind up marrying someone a lot stronger than you are.

•Give your creativity an outlet.

•If your friends jump off a cliff, you do not have to jump off with them.

•You are never too old to learn something new.

•Always try a taste of something you have never tried before.
You don’t have to finish it if you don’t like it.
(Except lutefisk. Don’t even bother trying that.)

•Give freely of your time, patience and love.

•Read books. They’re the cheapest vacation around.
(Unless you wind up going to the bookstore every day)

•A diet of cheese sandwiches, Top Ramen and beer is not good for you for very long.

•Clean your room.

•Anything worth doing is worth doing the absolute best you can.

•If you have done your best, it can never be considered a failure.

•Take lots of pictures.

•Sometimes the punishment does hurt your parent more than it hurts you.

•Brush your teeth.

•Speak your mind, but do it politely.

•Make sure your food is cooked completely.
(You don’t have to burn it like you father does, but that won’t hurt either)

•Use your imagination.
With the right mind-set, a brick with a face drawn on it works just as well as a doll.

•Try not to be too angry with God.
He is never angry with you.

•Maintain a sense of humor.
Once you stop laughing, you have given up.


Mom had her rough days fighting her illness, but she never stopped laughing and she never gave up.
With her gone, I’ll have my rough days as well, but the memories of her laughter and the love she showed me will help pull me through.