Welcome to Thanks for Being here, very short pod that comes out every Sunday morning as Sundays

there's such a good time to let go of the day to day and touch base with what matters, what will

matter, and what will have mattered. The answer to that question for me is often found in ceremonies.

I could watch strangers get married once a week,

and I'm even more affected by funerals, sitting in a service, taking in the story of one life,

just another ordinary person, who they loved and who loved them. In a way, eulogies are about the

most succinct source of clarity and direction I can think of. So I ask listeners

who have lost someone dear to share their words and every week I'll read one eulogy here so that we don't

forget. There is a point to the pain. We have much to offer. We affect each other deeply. And that ordinary lives are really kind of

exquisite when you look at them closely. This is thanks for being here.

Hi guys. This week's thanks for being here comes from a very special source.

A woman named P.T. Pat Teal died a few months ago.

She is the mother of Tammy Stedman, my producer.

This eulogy was written by Tammy's sister Amy.

My mom's gift was noticing people.

I mean really paying attention and listening to their problems. She was

endlessly curious about who people were below the surface of their job as her colleague or as her

plumber or her waitress. She wanted to know who you were, what your story was, who you knew

so she could help you or connect you to someone

else who could. Everyone was someone to get to know and standing in line anywhere often became

her own personal party. And no man, no matter his age, was not worth flirting with.

Whether she was sending, as she would say, a little money to me for Valentine's Day,

...