Additional Tribute Link: http://youtu.be/8xwcS05K8e8

Gary Swanson Relation to Deceased: son Our Mom was such a great lady. She lived life to the fullest, never afraid to try something new and adventurous, She loved to travel, and did quite often with Dad on his business trips. And after he was gone, Mom would travel to different parts of the country, sometimes with her sister, to New York to visit Eric, Arizona and Colorado to visit family. And many times go on her own with Maupin Tours, where she met lots of new friends. She took Nor & Eric to Italy to visit Grandpas family. And she always would bring me back a coffee mug or souvenir. Mom taught us how to be strong, responsible, and independent, how to cook & sew, do laundry & things like that when we were quite young, and everybody had chores to do around the house. She also allowed us a lot of freedom to be ourselves and find our way in life. She did this to prepare us for life on our own. She always had some goal to accomplish. When we lived at 948 Tait Ave. in the 60’s, she really admired a house down the street because it had a huge bow window in the front, and said someday she would buy that house. I’ll bet she drove by there 5000 times until the for sale sign went up, and she bought it immediately. She had a green thumb, and surrounded the place with flowers. Mom really loved her grandchildren, to hold and feed them when they were babies, and spoil them a little as they grew up. And if anyone ever got sick, she would whip up a pot of chicken soup and bring it over along with a bottle of vitamin C to get them all better. And she would always worry when my boys would climb her tree nearly to the top, shouting at them to come down before they fell & broke their arms. She liked coming to dinner all the time when I would grill burgers, chicken or steaks, relax with a glass of wine and enjoy the kids, and always brought the log cookies she kept in her oven for dessert. I’ve always been proud of Mom, how tough she was through all the difficult times in her life, how she would keep moving forward. And she was always a leader. When she suffered her first strokes, she needed recuperation at Westside Manor (for 6 weeks). As she got better, so did her sense of taste, and she led what we call the peanut butter and jelly sandwich revolt. She disliked the food there and demanded and got peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which was one of her favorites, instead of the regular meals. She also convinced many of the long term residents at Westside that they didn’t like the regular food too, and they started demanding p & j sandwiches all the time. The director was not amused, and I’m sure was relieved when Mom was able to move to independent living and not start any more trouble. When Mom became ill and went to Kirkhaven, there were only a few things that still made her happy; visits with her friends, children, grandkids and great-grand children, sitting outside on a sunny day, being nicely dressed, when Italian food was being served for lunch or dinner, ice cream, fresh tomatoes from the garden, her Hershey’s chocolate nuggets, and when I’d soak her hands and do her nails. She liked it when we would look out the big windows and I would point out the cranes downtown where Adam was working. And just sit and talk together. Thank you Mom for teaching us how to be strong, independent, and respectful to others; how to deal with adversity; for her kindness to all people and creatures; knowing the right words to say when you really needed them, and being such good Mom, Grandma and Great-Grandma to us all. I’m going to really miss bringing her chocolates, and her little smile when she would say “only two, because I’m on a diet”. The butterfly emerges from its silken shell- Reborn, it arises, no longer bound to earth. Free at last, the butterfly glides to heights unknown before. So do our loved ones find a beautiful release as, earthbound no more, they leave our sight and joyfully rise to a garden of matchless beauty, a place of light and peace. -Evelyn Phillips