A Damn Eulogy

I should’ve bantered on about this at her funeral but I was scatterbrained and trying to make sure I had enough water for my voice to sound halfway decent.

Anyway.

In loving memory of my mother, Janet Caroline Knight Hadlock Thomas. (Yes, she had five names.)

Playing music at a loved one’s funeral is indeed, tough. And this was hands down, the hardest musical thing I’ve done. But it was also one of the best. It was closure on a positive note, a sort of full circle. My mother, through circumstances out of her control, put the gift of music in her sheltered rascal’s hands. And even though she didn’t always understand it, she always supported it…. Always managed to find beauty in it and always tried her best to appreciate what I loved about it.

I was fortunate to get to spend a final day with her, playing music and reminding her of all the times I made her life a living rascal. Her last playlist including me butchering songs like “You Are My Sunshine”, “Amazing Grace”, “Another Story”, “In A Little While”, and “Live Forever”.

It’s true that grief comes in waves and me making this post is probably evidence of a decent sized one. But wow, this whole process would be SO much harder to deal with if I didn’t have music. I think that’s probably true of almost everything in this life.

My mother raised a Rascal, I just managed to put the DAMN in it. But we BOTH put the music in it.

Thanks Mom. ❤️