Jeannette's Eulogy

"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight."

This quote by Kahlil Gibran is very fitting today, as we celebrate the life of Jeannette.  Jeannette wasn't an overly sentimental person.  She didn't put as much stock into words as she did into actions, and her actions while she was with us certainly were our delight. 

In the 25 years Jeannette spent in Fairfax she involved herself in the town in many ways.  When her sons were young she was involved with the PTA, with Boy Scouts, and with the CCD programs here at St. Luke.  As the boys got older she found more ways to be active in the area.  She joined the Empty Nesters Network, a group of friends who met monthly whose children had all grown.  She became a lay minister through a program at St. Michael’s College, and began the RCIA program here in the parish.  She also worked at Georgia and Westford Schools.  Ultimately, Jeannette took the job of secretary at St. Luke, and enjoyed it very much. 

Jeannette’s younger brother Leo and her older sister Mary, were planning to do the eulogy today.  However, after the visiting hours yesterday they decided not to.  They told me that all of you shared amazing stories of Jeannette’s contributions to your lives, and because of these stories they heard, they realized how Jeannette really came into her own here in Fairfax.  She was truly of this community, so although her childhood was important, it isn't the right focus of this celebration today.  Jeannette came here, to a town in Vermont where she knew no one, and built her own community around herself and her family, and that is really a testament to a life well-lived.  So today we celebrate that life.  You all have your own stories of Jeannette, so this eulogy didn’t need to contain childhood anecdotes or specific reminiscences; you have your own memories in your hearts.  

Jeannette’s brother Leo celebrated the birth of his first grandchild just last night.  In light of that, the follow excerpt from Ecclesiastes seems especially appropriate to end with today:  “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” 

Arrangements

We will hold visiting hours for Jeannette at Minor Funeral Home in Milton, Vermont from 4pm to 7pm on Sunday, September 18th.  The funeral will be at St. Luke's Parish in Fairfax, Vermont at 12 noon on Monday, September 19th.  If anyone wishes to bring food for the funeral luncheon after the Mass, they can call the rectory for St. Luke's during normal business hours at 849-6205. 

Jeannette will be buried at St. John the Baptist Cemetery in Valatie, NY at a time convenient to the family.  This is where Jeannette's parents and Tim's parents are buried.  This is also the most convenient visiting spot for family.  

Jeannette's full obituary will appear in the Burlington Free Press, the St. Albans Messenger, the Times Union in the Albany area, and the Register Star in Hudson, NY. 

The link to the funeral home is http://www.minorfh.com.  You can click on the link for Jeannette to see the obituary and leave online condolences.

The family is doing reasonably well this evening.  Tim's brother Terry and Terry's wife Lori are up, and Bob and Kathy Bessette are coming over after work.  Jeannette's brother Leo will also be coming in soon.

Thank you again to everyone for their outpouring of love and support. 

Jeannette passed away last night

Jeannette passed away peacefully in her sleep last night.  Tim and Jeannette's family has been notified.  I will post as soon as we have made arrangements.  Thank you so much for your support during this entire journey. 

Romans 8: 38, 39

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Some Bad News

After a week of sharp decline, Jeannette's visiting nurse said today that she believes Jeannette has about a week left to live.  Tim has called Jeannette's sister and brother, and they are coming in on Saturday, along with Jeannette's nephew Hank. Tim's sister-in-law Lori is staying through until Friday afternoon now, to continue to help Jeannette and the family.

Father Feltz came to visit this afternoon to give Jeannette Communion and the Sacrament of the Sick.  She was awake and aware and able to talk to him.  However, she has been sleeping very deeply for most of the past 2 days.

Currently Jeannette is still at home, but the hope is to get her into Respite House (a local Hospice center) as soon as possible.  She has some dissolve-able morphine tablets that she has taken to help with her pain (which has really only started up in the past 24 hours).  She is resting very comfortably. 

Obviously the speed of this drastic negative change in Jeannette's condition has taken all of us by surprise.  Tim has asked that people please not call the house, since the family is emotionally and physically exhausted.  However, Emily's parents Bob and Kathy Bessette will have all the most recent updates, and would be more than happy to talk to people "live" if that is helpful.  Their home number is 802 849 6773 and their cell number is 802 309 4953.  The Wills family can probably use Lori as their source of information since she is with the family right now.  I will also update the website at least daily from here on out.    

A Visitor

We are lucky enough to have Tim's sister-in-law Lori here right now. She is helping to take care of Jeannette while Jeff and Tim are at work, and also to just give them a small break. Emily's parents Bob and Kathy have taken some afternoons off to help as well.

Wednesday's Update

After a rough weekend, yesterday Jeannette couldn't keep any food down, but today she's kept down a little Ensure and baby food.  Home Health is going to start coming to keep an eye on her, and in an interesting twist the Home Health woman assigned to Jeannette is the same one who worked with Justin when he had his back surgery years ago.  Emily's parents brought over a shower chair they had, and a walker for Jeannette to use.  In order to get Jeannette stronger and better situated, Tim took this week off from work.  As anything progresses we will keep you updated. 

An Overnight Stay

Jeannette spent Thursday night in NMC hospital.  She had been in Dr. Thomas's St. Albans office awaiting a regular appointment when she became unresponsive.  Tim and the nurses couldn't bring her back around, so Jeannette was taken to the hospital, which was really only feet away.  After regulating her blood pressure (which was extremely low) and hydrating her and watching her overnight, she was released back home on Friday afternoon. 

Jeannette had a good weekend last weekend, including sitting at the table with the family and eating a somewhat normal dinner.  Then the rest of the week was a slow slide downhill.  It seems that when Jeannette is drinking and eating enough and properly hydrated, she needs blood pressure medication to keep it within a healthy range.  However, when she's dehydrated and weak, the blood pressure medicine drives her too low.  Jeannette also may have missed some pills last week, and a combination of a number a factors seems to have caused her episode.

Tim is going to call Home Health on Tuesday and set up some regular visits from those nurses.  They will monitor Jeannette's blood pressure/draw blood and do some physical therapy with Jeannette to work on getting her strength back up. 

When we go a long stretch without updating this blog, it just means that the status quo is the status quo.  A lot of the time we are just plugging along.  Thank you all for your continued support.