A Life Well-Lived

On Saturday we attended a memorial service for Rosamond S. (Peach) Merrill, who died on June 25 at the age of 86.

I had only met Mrs. Merrill a few times. Her family is one of the founding families of Marblehead who can trace their lineage back to 1633. She was a true New England Yankee. However, my lasting impression of her will always be as a beautiful, vibrant woman and every inch a lady.

After the service at Old Burial Hill in Marblehead there was a luncheon at a local church. There was a table at the church hall covered with photo albums. Leafing through her photo albums I must say that I believe that she did thoroughly enjoy herself. Inside of her own, personal photo albums were pictures of Mrs. Merrill as a young Miss Peach, who had various suitors and who traveled extensively across the US and in Europe. She loved her family and friends and there were photos of all. There were pictures of her in new cars, wearing the latest fashions, and smiling infectiously. There were even some tastefully done boudoir photos (very tame by our standards) of a woman who was very much aware of her beauty.

In short, she lived her life.

Her children had prepared a small pamphlet of her life. On the front was a picture of her with the following in quotations:

"I thoroughly enjoyed myself."

I asked Janet if and when her Mom had actually said this. Both she and Robin (her sister) replied that "Mom said it all the time."

I challenge all of us to do the same.