They only looked ahead far enough to schedule new scans and to plan Mom’s treatments around trips she wanted to take. She would spend six days in the hospital with a raging infection. The good news they receive was that a recent scan had shown that the tumors, though no longer shrinking, weren't growing. On May 16, Marymount Manhattan College was giving Mary Anne an honorary doctorate of laws. She gave a speech at the graduation ceremony of the Class of 2008. She stared off her speech by telling the story about a boy who had lost a leg and Bosnian family who insisted on helping him get to the polling station. She ended her remarks with a story of a pamphlet that she was handed when she was visiting an African country where people were able to vote freely for the first time. The pamphlet was called The Ten Commandments for Voters and she read a few aloud to the graduates. We were introduced that she was an Obama supporter along with most of the students. They knew just what she was talking about and cheered. She said that, “I have learned from the refugees I have met over the last 18 years to have hope for the future and that is what has helped me through my life, and I know that has been important to the class of 2008. I wish you all staff for yourselves and so much more” (180).
Schwalbe and his mother talked about acknowledgement cards and that there were to be given after her death. This has got me thinking about past acknowledgement cards I received in the past. What kind of messages would you like to leave behind? Positive, inspiration, humor, story, etc. What are the things you hope to be remember by the most? If so, why?