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 a bat 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.

Today's thanks for being here is very short and very powerful. It was written by Susie DeCarlo

about her mother and it was shared with us in July of 2022.

Susie, thank you for being patient while we wade through so many lovely submissions to thanks for being here.

My mom introduced me to her hospice nurse.

This is my daughter, Susan.

She is my rock of Gibraltar. At the time I thought she meant

I was like the rock of Gibraltar. I was 18 years old and confident in my direction, built on a

solid foundation. In fact, those words to a stranger in her final days manifested my destiny.

I was strong. I was unbreakable. I would survive the test of time.

I would even thrive in the most tumultuous seas. Fast forward 32 years during a bewildering time

filled with upheaval, instability, uncertainty, and change. I found myself reliving, yes, at 3 a.m., those final days with my mom.

As the walls of her precious life collapsed and she faced her tragic reality,

...