Losing one's mother is not a unique experience. It's something we all face sooner or later, but even though it's a common experience, it doesn't make it easier for any of us.

I've read that losing one's parents is one of the hardest things we face in life. It's certainly one of the hardest things I've ever faced.

On behalf of my Dad and my siblings, I want to thank you all for being here today to support us in this difficult time. The show of love and respect for my mother is comforting.

My mother faced many challenges in her life. As a child, she had rheumatic fever for seven years. She was the victim of a hit and run driver that almost ended her life. She was plagued with Panic attacks and anxiety her whole life. She endured shock therapy for nervous breakdown. She survived breast cancer. And then, her final battle with dementia. In spite of all this she lived to the ripe old age of 92.

She is most certainly in heaven now, because she's already been through hell.

Through all these difficulties she never lost her love of life, or her faith in God. She raised five children who she loved as only a mother can. I was constantly reminded of her love for me by her actions and her words. Often referring to me as the "serious one", she accepted me as I am, and loved me unconditionally, what more can a son ask for?

She always pushed her own needs aside. Everything was for the kids. Like most of us, all she really wanted was to be loved.

She was a member of a generation that is mostly gone now. She lived in a time before computers and cell phones, a time when the most important things in people's lives were God and family.

It's a different world now. People's values and priorities seem to have changed. God's existence is questioned and replaced by science. Our moral absolute has deteriorated, so anything goes, there are no limits, and little is considered sacred anymore. My mother could never reconcile these changes. She was "old school", and I'm proud to say she was my mother.

My mother loved people. She was happy to sit and chat with friends and entertained often through the 71 years that she and Dad were married. That marriage, by the way, began here on this very alter.

You never had to wonder what was on my mother's mind, she was happy to tell you.

If you were going someplace and asked if she wanted to go, you didn't have to ask her twice. It didn't matter if you were going out to dinner or just down to the mall, she loved going out.

If she was at a function, you can bet she and Dad were out on the dance floor, showing everyone how it's done. She loved to dance.

Her biggest fear was death, but at the end she was ready, and passed peacefully, surrounded by family.

Her struggle is over. The pain is gone. She has been freed from her paralyzing fear. May she rest in peace eternally, in the arms of Jesus.

In closing, I'd like to leave you with two quotes from Jesus. In the Gospel of John. He says, "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going."

And in Mathew, Jesus says, "Come to me all you who are troubled and burdened and I will give you rest."

Eulogy was written and delivered by her loving son, Phillip A Bordonaro