A Promised Post

I promised a couple of weeks ago that I would post some more of the things that were shared at my sister's funeral. Don't worry! This isn't going to be a "downer". Hopefully the words will encourage you.

The following are excerpts from what my sister's friend Nancy shared.

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Life is about two things: relationships and memories.

Relationships:

• Teresa was the master craftsman of relationships & handy as a shirt pocket!
• She never met a stranger. At F.O.R. (Friends of the River), Teresa was the "meeter & greeter". For example, she would walk in to our breakfasts, look around and head directly to the new faces. She had the ability to make everyone feel special.
  
• In order to get to know someone, you have to spend time with them - Teresa loved people - All people and she loved spending time with them. She transcended circles and was comfortable with folks from all walks of life.
• You always knew exactly where you stood with her, because she would tell you!
• With her big smile, bright eyes and bubbly spirit, she would light up a room and make you feel right at home.

Memories:

• We met Teresa and Neal when Vanessa brought them to one of the F.O.R. Organizing Committee meetings in early 2006. She was a handpicked "worker-bee". Teresa had a passion for the river and was F.O.R.'s most devoted volunteer with her "can-do" positive attitude. Teresa was "Friends of the River".
• Travis (Teresa's son) purchased a new car on-line from Iraq and it was delivered to Teresa and Neal's house. Teresa drove it at least once a week to keep the battery charged. We typically rode together to yoga and one Tuesday she picked me up in Travis' car... This car is a HOT, good-looking car, a real "Man's Machine" ---RUMMMMM, RUMMMM! I jumped in and away we went...it felt like we were really moving and she looked at me and said, "and we're only going 35!" We laughed! Well, we pulled up for class and our yoga teacher ran out of the building because she heard the RUMMMM, RUMMMM. Teresa said, "Hop in, let's go for a ride" and away we went. We headed down 521 and you would have thought we were teenagers..."young and dumb" all over again. We laughed till our sides hurt with tears streaming down our faces! What a great memory!
• Teresa would occasionally call me when we were both driving to work and she would always start the conversation singing one of her songs; depending on the day it was either "Marvelous Monday", "Terrific Tuesday"...or her "Fabulous Friday" song.
• Every morning she prayed for Travis' safety, peace for F.O.R., and for her family. Among other things, she asked God to help her be a blessing to someone that day.
• Teresa was the ultimate peace-maker. she tried to make everything okay!
• We've lost a mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend, but we've gained a guardian angel.

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Here's a link to a nice tribute that F.O.R. did for Teresa.

Well, now that you've read what others had to say about my sister, maybe next time I'll share my thoughts.

My Sister

Most of you know that my sister Teresa was diagnosed with lung cancer about a year and a half ago. In fact, I posted several updates on my blog about her status, including some letters from her.

After her first round of chemo, things looked pretty good, and it seemed that she might have beaten the odds. Sadly, the cancer came back with a vengeance, and on December 20th, she passed away quietly in the early hours of the morning with her loved ones by her side.

She was much loved by everyone who knew her. My mom asked if I wanted to speak at the

funeral, but I knew that I couldn't do it. It turns out, I didn't need to. Two of her friends shared their reflections on Teresa and her life. They did a fantastic job. I couldn't have added one thing.

Below is what the owner of the company that she worked at for 15+ years had to say. I'll try to post the other one in the future. If you have a couple of minutes, whether you knew Teresa or not, read the transcript below and get just a glimpse of who my wonderful sister was.

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My name is Anthony Alexander and if I were to be introduced to you by Teresa, she would introduce me as her Boss. But if you ever spent any time at my office you would quickly figure out that Teresa was really the Boss at Brazos Fasteners. The rest of us just got out of the way and did what we were told.

When Susan called the other day and told me that the family wanted someone from the office to speak here to today my immediate response was NO WAY. You see I am the guy who can't make it through an episode of Biggest Loser without crying. But then I got to thinking about what Teresa would do if I were asked to speak at someone else's funeral. I would walk into my office like I have done for the past 17 years and say Teresa I need your help and like million times before she would stop what she was doing and immediately come to my rescue. She would pull up a chair to my desk and Say in her Teresa way “Here I am boss what can do to help?” I would explain what I needed and she would, without even a breath of thought, convince me that I could do it, and she would help me make it be the best speech ever. We would spend the next however long helping me write the perfect words on paper all the while she would be convincing me that I would be able to get up and deliver those words like the most eloquent orator of all Time! And when it came time to deliver she would be while standing in the back

of the audience gleaming with pride and cheering every me on with her smile.

When Teresa and I first meet I was a Skinny little 19yr old kid with a wife and and kid, scared out of my mind as to how I was going to make ends meet. After 17yrs with her by my side giving me every ounce of energy she could give. She helped create a thriving business, not to mention put a little weight on me. I would like to share with you a piece of Teresa through my eyes. You see, Teresa’s desk and mine were about five feet apart so as you can imagine I got to see a lot.

The one thing that I saw everyday from Teresa and the one thing that stood out the most was LOVE. No one I have ever met in my life knew how to Love more than Teresa. And to be honest, it scared me to death. I am much more reserved when it comes to all of the lovey-dovey stuff and when this fireball from Sweeny Texas came into my life, boy was I in for a real live roller coaster ride. I watched her love every customer, every vendor, every employee, the mailman, the ups man, and she not only genuinely loved them, she Hugged Them TOO!!! And it did not take her long to start huggin me! That took me a long time to get used to. But when

I got used to all the ickyness of huggin, I realized that is what made her so special. When you hugged Teresa it was like no other. She had a way of holding on just long enough, where you could almost feel her heart.

The four people that I enjoyed watching her hug the most were her son Travis and my three children. Every time the four of them came into our office I watched Teresa wrap them up in her octopus arms and deposit a little piece of her heart into their soul.

Teresa is going to be missed . We will never be able to replace her, nor would we begin to try. But she will always be with us. Take it from me, I have a lot of experience, if you were one of the lucky people that got to experience a “Teresa Hug” then she left a piece of her inside of you!

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Thanks for everyone's kind words and continued prayer for my family.

Rerun #5

This is the last of my reruns of Aaroneous Findings for your enjoyment. Happy New Year!

"Like My Lunchbox?"