Saddened to hear of Aunt Noreen's passing.  Lot's of memories of her and Uncle Jim visiting.....and her warm and welcoming hugs!

Joan Hajek (Breidenstein)

G-Ma was someone who was always there for me, even when I was not there for her.  I grew up knowing her home as my second home. So her absence is an alien concept to me, as I'm sure it is for the rest of you. And yet here we all gather in the immediacy of the moment, sharing a space both intensely private & reserved for communion with one another. We are told that the best way to listen to the dead is to let our memories speak to us. We are told that because it is unquestionably true. 
While many of my own memories play back all gauzy and clipped, many more short effervescent moments come back to me pristine. Orange juice freshly squeezed & cake slid carefully from the freezer. Her eyebrows arching above colorful eyeglasses. The smell of pine resin baking in the sun.  Her fetching reeking ammonia because I got into fire ants again. She and Pop-Pop both guiding me through their mental archives of Maryland history.  Her handing me the cherries from her Manhattan without me asking. Leafing through nature guides while she talked about how she was sure those were bluebirds at the cabin. Her keeping busy at the cabin itself, which to my young mind was concealed by mist like some private Brigadoon
And of course returning to her person again and again. Her hand on mine when she was worried, when she was happy, when she was just trying to grab my attention. Her voice trailing off and restarting at a fresh pace. The patterns of her languageher laughs going hut-tut-tut, her careful examination of any changes in my demeanor or appearance, her punctuating sentences with oh my.  The content of that language sneaking in jokes about my mother sometimes, more often making a point of how I reminded her of Pop-Pop, encouraging me to strive for accomplishment wherever I go. And of course, those tight embraces that bookended each visit. 
But now she has let go of me.  And I must in turn learn to let go of her.
Love,
Skylar

Graveside Service

Life Event Center at Florida Memorial Gardens

Mary Eavey

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Mary Noreen Eavey

June 9, 1929 – June 27, 2015

Life Event Center at Florida Memorial Gardens

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