The Life of Mary Allegra

It's an amazing thing that, although I grew up three doors away from St. Frances DeSales Church, before the 236th day of 2019, I had only been its Sanctuary once, for Jennifer Allegra's wedding.  Well, 8/24/19 found me in there again, for the funeral for Jennifer Allegra's mom.  Mary Allegra was an amazing person.  She was the mom of Jen, my sister's best friend but, as the Order of Service said in its description of her, there are a bunch of "Adult Kids" who also call her "Mom."  Count me as one of them.  I will never forget the love and support she gave me (and many, many others) as a neighbor, as one of her children theater actors, and, frankly, she gave love to anyone with whom she came in contact.  As was said today during the service, Mary was the epitome of hostess, teacher/mentor, community activist, and personification of Christian Love.  So it's been a tough week filled with sadness and scary events (especially Anna's car accident), but the love I felt in the Sanctuary of SFDS Church today healed me a lot, and that is Mary giving us a gift, even after she departed this Earth.  Tonight I have a world of gratitude for the life of Mary Allegra and I feel lucky and blessed to have known her, and to have benefited from her hospitality, teaching. and love.

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