Bus Rides and Grass Skirts

For those friends of ours who are friends of Sharon Ryan, we wanted to let you know of the death of Doris, or Wee Doris as Geoffrey called her, last week in Boston, USA. Many of us were touched by Doris's friendliness and support by phone and post in the years Sharon spent in L'Arche and indeed afterward. Through Sharon, she inspired us and will continue to inspire those who hear about her or meet any of her eight children. We share with you from Sharon's eulogy for her mum two passages that relate her practising the kind of love we aspire to in our community:

My brother tells the story of his first day of kindergarten when my mother bundled him up, and set him off to face the bus with courage, then she ran after it in tears as it drove off....When the bus driver pulled over to let my mother say one more good-bye, and to calm my brother and the other kids who were now crying, he asked my mother if it was her first to head off to school. My mother said no--it was her seventh.

[P]eople...felt better after they spent time with my mother and... felt immediately at home with her....Because she was comfortable with herself, she made others comfortable. She had what people these last days have been calling sparkle, spunk, a sense of fun, humor. She danced, she sang, she yodeled, she played games, she laughed, she wore grass skirts. She was cheeky and young. She made every day a holiday, my sister said. She had a joie de vivre--a joy of life--that she acquired early and never lost, even when times got tough. In those times, she told us that you better laugh so you don't cry, and she practiced what she preached.

Please join with us in embracing Sharon and all the Ryan family as they carry Doris's joie de vivre on into the future.