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Light a Candle
It is with great sadness that I share with you the news of my mom/Patricia Ann/Patsy/Aunt Patsy/Grammy passing early Friday March 18 at ~1:20 am at her home (which so many of you have been to). Mary, John, Christina (grand daughter and Christina's husband Matt) and I prayed with her, comforted her, helped relieve her pain, played Irish music for her in honor of her proud Irish heritage and cried with her as we shared wonderful memories of her life. We have been incredibly touched by the many friends and relatives have called expressing deep sadness for loosing her. Of all of her great attributes, one that stands out was her was her relentless pursuit to keep life long relationships strong, particularly among family members, alive and as close as possible. What we have come to learn and appreciate from her is that being with family, friends, loved ones, neighbors for life's celebrations as well as life's challenging times is what life is all about. Even one of her quirks of making quick friends with strangers was an endearing quality that touched so many lives, most recently in the hospital where she stood out with her endless questions of Doctor's, and nurses littered with jokes, sarcasm and a health dose of skepticism keeping all on their toes but asking quick friends with even the most guarded ones. Over the past 8 weeks her body was ravaged by a bacterial infection on her liver, a large blood clot in her leg that was removed by surgery Friday, a newly formed heart condition discovered Friday, and a stroke this past Saturday that left her unable to speak and paralyzed on her right side. After that, she wanted nothing more of medical procedures and wanted to be at her home and in hospice care. We got her home Monday and cared for her 24x7 until her passing last night. On Monday, March 21, 2016, her wake will be from 4-8 p.m. at the following address: Joseph Gawler's Sons, LLC; 5130 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016 | 202-966-6400 On Tuesday, March 22 the funeral will be at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, her parish, at 3630 Quesada St NW, Washington, DC 20015 at 11 am. We will celebrate her life following the service with stories, laughs, memories, food, and drink following the mass sprinkled I'm sure with a tear or two. We understand that traveling on such short notice is both difficult due to health and other issues, so we will send a web link for everyone to share their thoughts, memories, perhaps even be a photo upload feature. With love, Mary, John, Paul
