Earlier this week, as we were making plans for my Mothers final journey here on earth, the topic of eulogies came up between my sister and me. She asked me if I would like to share some of my recollections of Mom, after the funeral mass. Being the oldest child in our household, even though I was scared to death to take on such an assignment, I could not see how I could say no. So now I found myself tasked with the job of deciding what to say about my mother.
For the next couple of days I heard and read a lot of great things being said about Mom. Everyone seemed to remember her as warm, loving, funny, and full of life. They all said she was a really terrific person with whom they shared many memorable moments. It really was a joy to hear everyone talk about my Mom. It was a particular joy to hear everyone say how much my Mom’s life touched their own.
So here I am, the night before the funeral, with a laptop perched on a rickety hotel room chair, trying to digest all that has been said about Mom. I thought I could take all these little tidbits, weave them together with my own recollections and turn them into an interesting story that would honor the memory of my mother. However, I found this a most difficult job.
I just do not seem to remember her that way. To me my Mom was a bear. When I was growing up, and even after I was grown, she was all business. She knew what she wanted, she knew what needed to be done. And for the most part, even though she was all alone with very little resources, she got the job done.
Now I am not saying she was not warm, loving, funny, and full of life, because in truth she was. What I am trying to say is when I remember my Mother I remember a women who was deeply in love with my father. I remember a women who while still in her early twenties, with three small children, had the man she adored yanked from her life. I remember a women who even though it took a little while to get back on track, worked hard to picked up the pieces. She then would go on to do the best she could to make a good life for these children who she love with all her heart. This was no small feat, so if she did not have time to always show us funny and full of life, I think we understood it was because she was just too busy keeping a roof over our heads, food on the table and making sure we had the best quality of life she could provide. She was not perfect and she did have her faults, but ultimately everything she did was out of love for ALL her children.
And if you take the time to think about you have to admit she did a darn good job. Along with happy childhood memories we all received a good education and a strong Catholic faith. If you take a look at my brothers and sisters you will most likely admit they have all gone on to become loving, successful and admirable people. This was not an accident, it is came about because my mother understood what she had to do to lay the foundation upon which their lives were to grow.
Maybe before I close I could share a couple of wonderful and possibly life changing memories I hold of my Mom. The first of which happened when I could not have been more than seven or eight years of age. My brother and I were taken to the hospital to have our tonsils removed. In those days you checked into the hospital the night before with the operation. After we were all bedded down with promises of lots of ice cream the next day, the nurses came into the room and told my mom she would have to leave. My brother and I both panicked. The nurse said parents were not allowed to spend the night with their children, that was the nurses job. I am not really exactly sure how it happen, but I do know my mom made it perfectly clear, if she left, so did we. Well needless to say, we stayed until our operation the next day, and so did Mom. With this obviously brave expression of a mothers love, an otherwise traumatic event was turned into a fond memory.
One last memory I have of an expression of my mothers love was to come much later in my life. It was to happen after I met the women who was to become my wife and the mother of my children.
When my wife and I first decided to marry it seemed as if the whole world was against us. My wife’s family would rather have had me shot them let us marry. I was also pretty sure when I told mom we planned to marry she was going to be against us too. Never the less, I went to her and said I was in love and I wanted to get married. I told my future in laws were going to try and do what ever they could to stop the wedding, and I did not know what to do. My mom hesitated about thirty seconds, and with the understanding and compassion that only a mother can muster, the next words out of her mouth were, “I don’t know what your going to do, but I am going to get Debbie and start planning a wedding.”
On that day I learned that not only did my mom love me, but she also was willing and capable of allowing her love to grow and encompass the person whom I had chosen to love as well.
So to wrap this up everyone is right, Mom was warm, loving, funny, and full of life, but she was also hard working, brave, compassionate, understanding and full of love.
Elizabeth Anne Garrison
On July 9, 1929 the second child of Luis and Anne Granados was born in Riverdale, Maryland. They named her Elizabeth Anne after her aunt, but she was nicknamed "Anita" by her Spanish father.Anita attended Holy Redeemer School in Berwyn Heights and St. Cecelia's High School in Washington, DC. In 1947 she married Preston Garrison, a Navy veteran and fire-fighter for the District of Columbia. They settled in Greenbelt and had three children - Richard Preston, Kathleen Marie and Michael Joseph. Sadly, in 1955 Preston was killed in the line of duty, leaving Anita a young widow. Shortly after his death, she moved her family back to Riverdale to a newly constructed home. It was in this home she spent most of her life, raised her children as a single parent, and remained for more than forty years.
Anita worked full time as a bookkeeper for Potomac Iron Works and Art Display Company in Washington, DC. She was a talented musician, active in the choir at St. Bernard's church in Riverdale, serving both as an organist and vocalist. Once she retired, she took great pleasure in traveling and spending time with her grandchildren.
She is remembered by her great sense of humor. She loved to laugh, sing, and tell stories, especially funny stories about people she knew. She was also a generous giver of gifts, never forgetting to mark each birthday or Christmas with something special she chose for her loved ones.
In 1998, after suffering injuries from a fall, Anita moved out of her split level home Riverdale to a one level condominium in Columbia, Maryland. By 2002 her health was deteriorating, and she relocated to Holy Cross Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Burtonsville, Maryland.
On Monday, April 14, 2008, after a long illness, Anita died at Holy Cross. She will be missed by many, especially her five children, John Kernan (Dianne) of San Diego, CA, Richard Garrison (Debra) of Phoenix, AZ, Kathleen Buckley (Mark) of Columbia, MD, Michael Garrison (Juanita) of Dagsboro, DE, and Mindie Burgoyne (Dan) of Marion Station, MD.
Additionally, Anita leaves behind fourteen grandchildren - Amy, Preston, Rachel, Sarah, Meghan, Tara, Kelly, Spencer, Bonnie, Ginger, Fletcher, Dominic, Daniel and Lara - and twelve great-grandchildren - Preston, Isabella, Richard, Alexander, Tate, Annabelle, Trent, Mia, Ava, Daniel, Grace, and Mia.
Anita was predeceased by her husband, Preston, her parents, Luis Granados and Anne Waters Granados, and most recently by her brother Robert "Bob" Granados, of Huntingtown, Maryland who passed away December 22, 2007.
Many lives have been touched and changed by Anita. She is part of a large family with over 500 living relatives, and has made many friends at her workplaces, at church, and in the communities where she lived. She is remembered as loving mother, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend, who faced difficult obstacles in her life but managed to provide for her family, instill good values in her children, and still find time to laugh and have fun.
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