Birth date: Jun 26, 1929 Death date: May 12, 2022
Theresa Dubuc Lapointe of Eustis, Florida, formerly of Fruitland Park, Florida passed away on Thursday, May 12, 2022 at the age of 92. She was born in Berlin, New Hampshire. Theresa was a homemaker, and a loving mother, grandmothe Read Obituary
These hands will never play cards with me again. Or dunk donuts in coffee. Or allow me to paint her nails.
But I feel so incredibly blessed to have had a long goodbye. Every moment was treasured.
Theresa didn’t have an easy life. Born in 1929, her childhood years were during the Great Depression. One of 7 kids that lived in a small house.
She told stories about how her dad made moonshine in the basement (during prohibition) in order to make ends meet. How they grew potatoes and raised rabbits for food (don’t tell our new backyard friend, McTushy) And how they each got a single candy cane for Christmas.
Her own mother died when she was 9. And I think that left a lot of life’s big questions unanswered for her and her siblings to figure out on their own. She and her sisters were close, though. Jean, Cecile, Simone, and Yvonne. And man, did they have some stories. If she didn’t believe a story you told, she’d say “oh, go jump in a lake.”
She quit school in the 8th grade to get a job so she could afford clothes. I remember she told a story about how she once worked in a shoe factory, and would take a swig of whisky from the flask in her back pocket when she met her quota.
Between some of the crazy stories she told and her poker playing, I’d often joke that she partied all the party genes out of our family, which is why I was born such a serious kid.
I do wish our conversations over cards were more deep. But she was of the generation that just didn’t talk about things. Her two biggest pieces of advice to me were “never depend on man, Rachelle” and “take time to smell the roses.”
Well, let me tell you … I have stuck my face in every rose, gardenia, and blooming magnolia this week. I’ve smelled them all. I take this advice to slow down literally and figuratively.
She used to say her hobbies were a way of “killing time.” And she had a clock on every wall. EVERY wall. And a watch not just on her wrist, but as a ring too. Often, none of them told the right time. 😂
But at nearly 93 years old, I think time worked in her favor. She didn’t kill time, she stretched it out as long as she could. She had a sort of luck that always guided her to the right places at the right moment. I think her faith had a hand in that.
She loved the color red. “That’s my color,” she’d say. It’s the color of her lipstick, the color of the queen of hearts and diamonds. She’s say, “a rich color.” Though, in her later years she started preferring a more calm lavender.
Theresa never left the house without lipstick and earrings. Bright red lipstick and dangling earrings to match the exact color of her outfit. I’m going to have to be more bold in my lipstick and earring choices in her honor.
My Mamere is gone.
This week has been a heart breaker for sure.
But I’m still trying to find space for joy.
