             Eulogy to Mom

What can I say about the Queen of SeaHaven for over 40yrs.?

This is a celebration of a great lady our Mom. She was our Mom, and what a Mom!  What a story that spanned 99 yrs.! Sorry Mom. She never wanted anyone to know her age. Whenever anyone asked she always told them “It's for me to know and for you to find out”.  

Our pastor at a previous church that we attended always asked if there were visitors and so I introduced Mom from Pompano Beach and he asked her if I was her brother. She was beaming from ear to ear and never let me forget it.

How many people have had the opportunity to learn first hand the era that spans from 1914 through the cataclysmic events of the pandemic Spanish Influenza which killed millions, leaving mom with a loss of hearing, WW I, The Great Depression, and WW II. 

Mom was born in Astoria, Queens, NY and at about 7 or 8 yrs of age during the 1920's went back to Poland for about 5 yrs. There she lost her English, speaking only Polish and had to learn it all over again when she returned to the States.

Mom's 5 yrs in Poland during the ‘20s were very interesting. The tiny village where she lived was located between Wadowice to the West, the birthplace of Pope John Paul II, and to the East, Auschwitz. Between good & evil. She told me she would go daily to the town well to fetch water. 

Back in the states her father had two clothing stores, one in Astoria, Queens, NY and one in Carteret NJ. He was a successful businessman who also invested in Arabian horses. She told me he loved wrestling and would pay her and her brother Eddie to wrestle with each other; so you didn't want to mess with her. Then comes The Great Depression. It changed the direction of their lives forever. Her father loses the business and dies shortly thereafter at the age of 46yrs. Her mother took in boarders to help pay the mortgage but it was not enough and eventually they lost the house and everything. They had to go on, with what at the time was called, “Home Relief”. Mom told me they got off of it as soon as they could.  Her older sister Stella, herself and younger brother Eddie had to leave school to help support the family, their dreams deferred forever. Mom told me that they turned over every red cent to her mother in order to keep food on the table. Her mother, my grandmother, found a job and worked hard to also save money for a headstone for her husband. Mom was part of that “Greatest Generation”.

She was married in 1934 to our father and soon thereafter moved to Da Bronx, NY where she was a homemaker and later worked at Alexander's Dept. Store first as a saleslady and then rising to the position of supervisor in Ladies Apparel.

Mom was a great cook and loved to entertain and have dinner parties where she would prepare native Polish, German and Spanish foods. I can still smell those great meals.

Mom was always ready to help anyone in distress and taught us all by thought and deed to always have a positive attitude no matter how tough things might get. 
She had a sharp mind and quick wit that would at times” keep you on your toes” or leave you laughing. 

Mom always had a very positive attitude, never complained and knew what she wanted and stuck to it. No changing her mind always with a sharp answer and darn it she was always right. Bankers forget it. She had them scratching their heads when she got finished with them CD rates and all. Audited one time by the IRS for back taxes she told them; “What country are going to send this to? ”Little old lady? Not this tough old lady.

Determined to keep her independence, Mom drove her car for a year after her license expired due to macular degeneration. ”Don't worry I just take the back roads to Publix super market and shopping”. 

She knew what she wanted. Her doctor recently told, me just several months ago that; “I'm the doctor but she gives the orders”. While in the Hospital they tried to send her for Xrays at 9:00 p.m. and she said to them; “Are you crazy? She didn't go ‘till the next morning. Mom told me that when she was 97 years old her doctor told her;”Jenny you'll live to be 100” and without missing a beat she said; “What you're only giving me 3 years to live”?

And with her Happy Hours with Mr. MaGregor her doc told at age 97 “Jenny whatever your doing with him don't stop.

When we were kids I remember going with her to shop for Xmas trees. Mom would wait ‘til Xmas eve to save money to buy one. She would bargain over the few trees left.  When I complained how scrawny they looked she said; “We'll just turn the scrawny part towards the wall and it will look just fine”. They weren't all beautiful trees like now.

Mom always liked to go to the Easter Parade in Manhattan where everyone walked 
down 5th Ave. showing off their new Easter outfits, because it was on the way to our grandmothers house in Astoria. I hated it. I would have to get dressed up wearing a fedora. Well, this one Easter the good Lord was with me because while taking pictures of us before leaving for the parade a strong gust of wind came along, blew off my fancy hat which promptly ended under the wheels of a large truck passing by and flattened it like a pancake.

Back in the '50's my mother anticipated Fr. Bill. She finally relented and took my sister and I to Yankee Stadium. On the way she kept telling us that she would take us to any movie rather than having to go watch the Yankees play. 

Mom always told us; “Remember,you're no better than anyone else but neither is anyone else better than you”. 

Mom used to go on dates with her walker. After dad died she had a male companion, Charlie that she would take a cab to just around the corner on A1A in Pompano. He was also on a walker and the two of them would then take a cab to a restaurant. That must have been a sight to see. I picked him up once to bring him back to mom's condo for dinner. When I arrived, there he was with a bottle of scotch in the pouch of his walker. He didn't drink but he knew mom might like a nip.

Some of you may remember her friend Rita O'Shea. The two of them would go to Lighthouse Cove on the ocean to sit at the bar. Mom got such a thrill climbing up on a bar stool because when my father was alive, he would never think of allowing her to sit at a bar.

Another time we went to a place called Dirty Nellies in Ft. Lauderdale. I left her at a large table to get a drink for her and myself. When I returned there she was surrounded by a bunch of Hell's Angels telling them of her motorcycle trips from NJ to CT. She made a big hit with them that afternoon.

Mom just recently sent me a cocktail napkin, that I have on my desk at home that says; “I'm Not Aging I'm Marinating”.

Every time I would call mom to asked how she was doing? --- she always said “I'm doing everybody I can”.

Another time I asked her about her runny nose. She said, “I'll let you know after I catch it”.

It wouldn't be right not to mention her two male companions; the other Charlie the monkey, and Mr. MacGregor. They will both miss her as we all will. The last time I saw mom she presented me with a gift wrapped bottle of MacGregor scotch which i shall always cherish.

So here we were from the village well in Poland to the beautiful view of the ocean and lighthouse she loved so much. Mom was my lighthouse, solid as a rock always guiding and protecting us and like that town well in Poland she never ran dry of her constant concern and love for us. Mom, you will always be my lighthouse and you will always be my well.

...and finally in a letter from St. Paul in 2 Timothy 4:6-7 ...”and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”.

Dubruniec Mom

Your loving son, Bob

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OBITUARY

Jenny Gaudier

March 5, 1914 – June 17, 2013

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