Dear friends,
Daniel James here. Thank you for coming to celebrate my mom's incredible life at her Memorial Service on February 23rd at Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church. Thank you for those of you her were also there in spirit, we felt your love.
Several people mentioned that they would like to read the speeches that we wrote, and since we chose not to have any recordings of the service, my dad, Renee and I decided to share the words with you here on the blog. The three posts below will be those speeches, I am separating them into different posts as I want to respect the unique voice of my dad, Renée, and myself as we remembered our wife, and mom respectively.
We could have spoken for hours about our her, and I personally love to talk about my mom, so feel free to ask me more when you see me-- but these are just a few highlights of our thoughts and feelings.
P.S. I added an "infinite scrolling" feature, so you can now simply scroll down indefinitely to see all previous posts. You can also navigate posts by date using the menu on the right. The newest post will always be at the top of the page.
P.S. I added an "infinite scrolling" feature, so you can now simply scroll down indefinitely to see all previous posts. You can also navigate posts by date using the menu on the right. The newest post will always be at the top of the page.
Thank you,
Steve, Renée, & Daniel James
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| We love you mom ❤️ |
Thank you and thank you again for posting your family’s speeches. I was crying the day of Gabrielle’s service because I couldn’t be there and support you all. I was praying for you all this am and decided to look, by chance, at your blog. I think Gabrielle was guiding me. I miss her so much. Love you all too. Soozi
ReplyDeleteHello Dear Dudley Family:
ReplyDeleteYou don't know me as I am very new to your blog and just finished reading it beginning to end. I have read more than a few blogs and I have to say that this blog has really made an impact! I have never wished more that I could meet a blog writer (or writers in this instance) in person!
I wish I could have known Gabrielle but am happy to know when the Lord calls me home, I will meet her. I too have been a Christian for many years and Gabby and I are close in age. I don't think I have cancer--although last year I was diagnosed with a precancerous condition and had to see a gynecologist-oncologist for the first time. You all know how frightening THAT can be after seeing your beloved Gabby go through it. She is indeed remarkable. I had my surgery (total hysterectomy) in March of 2018 and even the threat of cancer and the experience itself of getting correctly diagnosed impacts a person. I STILL have occasions where, if I experience an unusual symptom Satan tries to instill fear and I wonder "What if I have cancer and don't know it?"
Gabrielle and the entire family showed such strength and courage in this journey. I am so grateful you all have each other! I live alone and unfortunately never was blessed with children (long story but I suffered years of sexual abuse as a child and that had a major impact on my life in many ways that I am working to overcome) I love that Gabby was able to be at home with those she loves most in this world and that she went from home to her Heavenly eternal home. I am grateful for the lessons learned in this blog...keeping one's eyes on Jesus, eating well and LIVING rather than existing! I love Steve's sense of humor, I love Daniel's intelligence, his cooking skills and his dedication to his mom and family, I love Renee' s intelligence, her dedication, and the genuineness to stand secure and love Riley knowing she would not be rejected by her family and faith. I love your gratitude to those that served, helped and ministered to you during this trial. I love that you came to MAINE which is where I live and I hope someday you come back!!
How ARE you all holding up? I will be praying for peace, comfort and strength. I know Gabrielle would want that for you. She would want you all to hold fast to your faith, family, friends and JOY!
I hope someday to be able to afford to go see my dad and his wife before his time here on earth is over. They are in Nevada and I have not seen them in 26 years due to finances and also anxiety issues but if and when I get to see him, I pray that when his time does come, if I am there, to be able to be for him the strength and loving presence you all were to Gabrielle! And IF you ever think of it, I hope you will let us readers know how you are all doing!
Love and prayers,
Lori D'Amico