Hi everyone, welcome to thanks for being here, a short weekly pod to remind us of the many essential

and beautiful ways we affect one another. Every Sunday I'll read a submission from a listener

of Kelly Corrigan Wonders, could be wedding vows or about

mitzvah toast, a eulogy or retirement speech.

We believe this is probably the loveliest way to tap into our better selves and remember our highest values.

We encourage you to share this podcast each week with one person you love, maybe someone

you miss and need to bring closer,

someone you want to feel your appreciation or admiration or both.

This is thanks for being here comes from a woman named Jody Waverka. She taught my daughter Claire at Piedmont High School and she

has shared this beautiful short eulogy for her Aunt Marj.

When I was eight or nine, Auntie Marj knitted me a poncho, and I mean man every single thing about that poncho was perfect.

It had 1970 written all over it, patterned in a super-rich blue, a kind of electric violet, and

Barbie pink.

It hit my wrists in exactly the right spot. And as if the poncho wasn't enough, she made me a matching hat,

which I guess now I understand was actually a beret of all things. I loved that poncho

and felt my full-on swagger when I wore it. I really did, it just loved it.

The thing is, Antimarge, she made things. She was creative and smart and capable and determined she could make lovely things fun things kind things gorgeous things

We all experience life differently some of us are observers

Some of us jump into stuff like skydivers. Some of us are arguers. Some of us are planners or listeners or performers or wanderers.

Antimarge, I'm sure, like most of us, was probably a combination of a few of these, but I like to think of her as a maker.

What she made allowed us to see beauty in the small and the familiar,

allowed us to feel colors and shapes and textures and love.

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