Eulogy

Eulogy for Lorraine Scott.
By Karla Scott

My fondest memories of my Mom, are of how safe I felt with her. I remember on one of those coldest days of the year, when I was a little girl.
I came inside and she gave me a hug. She sat me down on her lap,
she removed my boots and my socks and she began to rub my toes one by one, and
carefully to blow her breath on them one by one,
until she warned them up.


That's the kind of person she was: she rubbed her tender loving care into everyone she met, everything she did, and everything she said. And she did it with gusto!

During the past few days I've heard so many wonderful stories about her from her closest friends. They've told me about their travels together home how she loved to dance, how she loved to eat, how she love to shop, how she'd love to party, how she loved to decorate, and she was always at the center of attention.

What really strikes me is how many people tell me she helped them.

Giving rides, money, sharing possessions, buying tickets, serving on committees (more than 20 social and civic) , praying for and with them.

Here is an excerpt from letter from a dear friend From Barbara Carey in Calif: (known since 1940s)

Dear Karla: We all will remember Lorraine as a person who cared about people, gave her time, gave of what she worked for hard earned cash, gave people so much and I am one of them.

Another friend wrote:

She was always helping others, was generous, and always the best dressed in the room.

My Mom certainly knew how to light up a room with her smile, her laugh, and her joy of living.

She's had lifelong friends such as Estelle Buser (from 1920s) and Ernestine Connors, Clemetine Smith, and Bobbie Anthony-Perez (1940s)and newer friends such as Cathy Adams, Juanita Blakey
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Her Finest Roles were as Mother and Wife:

She did her best to provide a good life for my sister, Stephanie and I She succeeded. We had everything we needed and everything we wanted from Catholic schools, to piano and dance lessons, to. Girl Scouting in 4-H clubs, to summer camp, trips to Europe in high school, to junior year living in France, to attendance at great colleges and universities.

Importantly, She wanted us to have a better life than she had-- you know, the American dream.

Like most of her peers, she had humble beginnings.

She grew up in the deep South, you know, at a time where lynching was a daily activity, jobs were scarce as the Boll weevil destroyed the cotton crop, and Jim Crow reigned with its heavy hand

Despite all this, she had aspirations for a better life. She heard the call of greater opportunity, up north and seized the moment to explore a better life in the great city of Chicago, a haven for Southerners especially those from Mississippi.

Through hard work, rigorous discipline, and prudent savings/investment strategies, she was able to live a comfortable middle-class life and to celebrate the joy of living.

She met her soulmate, my dad, William Scott, in 1943. From the moment he first laid eyes on her, he chased her down, (literally jumping over a diner counter), until he caught her. He held on tightly and never let go…and the rest is history.

As you all know, he worshiped her, striving to ensure that all heard needs were met. Yes, she had her husband wrapped around her little finger: she succeeded in never having to iron, never having to cook, never having to unpack luggage, in never having to pump her own gas. He wanted her happy always.

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Let me share with you her last moments

Our nighttime caregiver Vivian shared with me, her last stand:

After she tucked both my dad and my mom into bed that night, my dad kept asking my mom to talk with him. Vivian told my mom to look over at him and wave at him so he would be satisfied to know she was okay. She smiled at him. She waved to him. That was the last thing she did.

She passed peacefully in her sleep that night.

A good friend of mine, who is Jewish, described what that kind of passing means in the Jewish tradition. According to the Torah, when someone passes away peacefully while sleeping in her own bed is considered a blessing from God. She was spared the pain, she was spared the suffering, she was spared the anxiety of dying. She simply passed on in peace.
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Thank you all for your love and support and for being such dear friends to my Mom.

I know she brought light into your life, she brought light into my life, and into the life of my Dad .

She is in peace

God bless you all.

The End