Eulogy to Mother’s Late Friend

When I heard that my mom’s 88-year-old friend passed away last week, I decided to write out some feelings to process the thoughts. I then sent it to her surviving son and he will now read it at the funeral. I haven’t seen this person in about 20 years, so it surprises me, but you never know what power your words might have.

Hi, you don’t know me, but our moms were close friends and I saw her a lot when I was growing up in Arlington in the 90s.

One thing I admire about my mom is she’s not just a family woman but she’s very devoted to her friends, and Gloria fit that bill. I’m not sure but I think your mom might have bought the worst out in my mother. If my mother is known as being unfiltered, then perhaps Gloria was an amplification of my mother’s most colorful traits. My house was one that didn’t allow cursing, and Gloria was laissez-faire about her words as well as speaking her mind.

When trying to write a tribute about someone dead or alive, I think the best way to do so is to be as honest as I can. So, I won’t say Gloria was my favorite adult to be around as a kid, but in all honesty, I was just a dumb kid thrown off by her strong personality, and even then I recognized her as a fiercely independent woman living her best life, so she probably wouldn’t have cared.

What I do realize in hindsight is that she cared about me and my sister. She really did delight in entertaining us and having us over. I think because my mom was more into adult talk than other PTA-type moms, my sister…