LIFE 101: Live and Learn

Here is my beloved mommy's obituary. In latter years, especially the past 7 years since my Daddy's stroke and subsequent passing, mommy and I had spoken at length on the phone nearly daily. We became the closest of friends, supporting each other through all that life sent our way. I believe that Mommy's heart broke when Daddy died; in the following years she suffered from congestive heart failure and a number of other maladies. After a series of traumatic brain injuries incurred as a result of repeated falls, Mommy's heart gave out while receiving care at St. Mary Rehabilitation Center, next door to her home at The McAuley in West Hartford, CT. My brother witnessed her death at St. Francis Hospital. There was not enough time for Brian and me to get there, but I had been talking to Mommy on the phone immediately before her death and was able to send my love and say goodbye to her.

Conard, Annette Kennedy Hall. Annette H. Conard, of West Hartford, beloved wife of the late Frederick U. Conard, Jr., died at St. Francis Hospital on Thursday, (June 9, 2005). The daughter of the late Frederick Parrott and Virginia (Mullins) Hall, she was born September 6, 1922 in Orange, New Jersey. She moved from South Orange, New Jersey to West Hartford after her marriage to Frederick. Their marriage of fifty-seven years was blessed from the beginning. A graduate of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, Anne was a talented artist and graphic designer. Working as a free-lance artist, she designed a vast array of graphics for many publications and for many years volunteered to design and hand-draw the route map for the Hartford Art School's House and Garden Tour. She loved music, and was a talented singer. She sang in groups such as "The Better Half Notes" and the "Treble Clefs." She was a committed and valued member of the Hartford Art School Board. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of the American School for the Deaf and member of the Town and County Club and "Seed and Weed" Garden Club. A member of Asylum Hill Congregational Church, she participated in many church functions. She joined the Junior League of West Hartford, doing volunteer work and later became a sustaining member. She is survived by her son, Frederick U. Conard, III MD of West Hartford, and her daughter, Virginia Hall Conard, of Saratoga Springs, New York. Her predeceased grandson was Michael Frederick Conard also of West Hartford. She leaves her nieces and nephew, Kathy and Michael Minsch, and Cindy Martin. A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Tuesday, June 14 at Asylum Hill Congregational Church, 814 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, in the main sanctuary. The family requests that memorial contributions be sent in loving memory of Annette Hall Conard and her beloved grandson Michael Frederick Conard, to:

Cystinosis Research Network
10 Pine Avenue, Burlington, Massachusetts 01803 USA
(Toll Free: 1-866-276-3669 Tel: (781) 229-6182
Fax: (781) 229-6182 E-Mail: CRN@cystinosis.org
The CRN Federal Tax ID # is 04-3323789)

1. Domesticated:: animal
   
2. Cask:: wine
   
3. Wayne:: Newton
   
4. Insidious:: untrustworthy
   
5. Cool!:: Cool Beans!
   
6. Dishwasher:: detergent
   
7. Little house:: on the Prairie
   
8. Stepford:: Wives
   
9. Hung:: jury
   
10. Falling:: down
    

1. Wally:: Walla Walla, WA
   
2. Phantom:: memory
   
3. Slippery:: slope
   
4. Fungus:: tree art
   
5. Slot:: machine
   
6. Type:: face
   
7. Discharge:: papers
   
8. "We need to talk”:: "Uh oh"
   
9. On the spot:: Johnny
   
10. Liquid:: paper
    

1. Exhibit:: art
   
2. Evolution:: creation
   
3. Loser:: winner
   
4. Hypnotic:: trance
   
5. Unlikely:: likely
   
6. Interrupt:: rude
   
7. Ambivalent:: indecisive
   
8. Rise and fall:: breath
   
9. Indian:: Native American
   
10. Prophecy:: Nostradamus