17/08/2024
My mother
“The Lady in Red” Judith Ann Daley
January 12th 1946-August 17th 2024
She joined my father today, and all of her loved ones from the past, for the big concert in the sky. After a brief but terrible battle, our matriarch left us, surrounded by the women she created, our hands in hers.
My mother was the epitome of intelligence, beauty, grace, and kindness. She spent her entire life caring for everyone around her. She never complained, she laughed often, she lived with her whole heart, and danced with her whole soul.
I never heard my mother swear, I have never seen my mother drunk, and I have never heard her utter a malicious remark about anyone. She held herself with dignity and style to her very last days. Even under enormous pressure from her illness she never wavered. Her strength was inspiring. Her beauty was unbreakable. Her guidance and compassion are unmatched. The world was lucky to have her and she left her mark on so many.
My feeling of sadness and loss in this moment are seemingly bottomless but my mother’s words guide me, even now, through this dark time. I can hear her surprisingly dark sense of humour over my shoulder as I walk on without her. She would have wanted us to be strong, have fun, and live our lives to the fullest. She would have told us to handle it well, and “have fun no matter what you are doing”.
She was in love with life and watching that come to an end has marked us. Holding her hand in her last moments was a gift.
I will remember you as young, vibrant, full of life. I will remember you baking pies and cookies with me as a little kid, you never got mad when I spilt the bowl on the floor. Picking black berries and teaching me about dragon flies. Carrying me out to the deck to show me the Concord flying over our house. We visited the Snow Geese arriving in the fall, and the flowers coming up in the spring. You were my mentor to the natural world and that has always stayed with me.
“Lady in red, is dancing with me, cheek to cheek.”
I love you mom and life will never be the same for all of us. For me, my sister, my three beautiful nieces, and for all of her extended family. For all those she touched, the endless parade of souls that came to see her… sleep well our Queen. 🩵
