Eulogy for Mother

Thank you all for being here today. I'm Catherine, and I had the extraordinary fortune of being Nancy Williams' daughter for 44 years. Standing here is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but I know Mom would want me to celebrate her life, not just mourn her passing.

Mom was born in 1954 in this very town, the youngest of three children. She often joked that she perfected the art of being the "baby" of the family—charming her way out of chores and into the hearts of everyone she met. That charm never faded. She had a warmth that made everyone feel like they were the most important person in the room.

She was a teacher for 35 years at Lincoln Elementary. But ask any of her former students, and they'll tell you she was so much more than that. She was the teacher who stayed after school to help struggling readers. The one who used her own money to buy coats for children who needed them. The one who showed up to every soccer game, school play, and graduation of the kids she taught—sometimes decades after they left her classroom.

Mom taught me that love isn't just a feeling; it's action. It's showing up. It's the thousand small kindnesses that make someone feel valued. She taught me to find joy in simple things—a good book, a walk in nature, a long conversation over coffee. She taught me that strength isn't about never breaking; it's about putting yourself back together with grace.

I will miss our Sunday phone calls. I will miss her laugh, which was infectious and absolutely ridiculous. I will miss her advice, which was always wise, even when I didn't want to hear it. I will miss watching her be a grandmother to my children, seeing her light up when they walked in the room.

But here's what I won't miss: I won't miss her pain. In her final months, she fought with such dignity, and I am grateful that she is finally at peace. I won't miss worrying about her. And I won't miss the distance that illness created between who she was and who she became at the end.

What I carry forward is everything she gave me. Her resilience. Her compassion. Her unwavering belief that people are fundamentally good. Her legacy lives in the hundreds of students whose lives she touched, in the community she served, and in the family who loved her fiercely.

Mom, thank you for every sacrifice, every lesson, every hug, every "I'm proud of you." Thank you for showing me what it means to live with purpose and love without limits. You were, and always will be, my first example of strength and grace.

To everyone here: thank you for loving my mom. Thank you for the meals, the visits, the cards, the prayers. Your presence here today would mean the world to her, as it does to our family.

Mom, until we meet again, rest peacefully. You earned it.