Eulogy

Hello everyone, and welcome.

We are all gathered here today to remeber and honor the memory of Justyna. She was a beloved daughter, sister, and friend to us all.

Justyna was a remarkable young woman blessed with talents and intuition. She was a terrific piano player as well as a singer. I remember her musical discovery at the age of 8 when she decided to learn to play the piano because her best friend did. A year later, she told her father and me that she wanted to also sign up at her music school to learn to play the violin. From then on, she continued her musical journey and signed up for choir both at her elementary and high school.  My husband was truly proud of her and in awe at her musical pursuit and curiosity, as the musical genes run in his family and not in mine.

My daughter Justyna was also a closet writer. She could not be labeled as a poet, journalist, novelist, or lyricist, as all of those categories equally described her. After she passed away, I found her journals and random scraps of paper stashed away behind a shelf of books in her room. When I found then, I reminded myself of the few times she showed me her written pieces. With my sons I was unable to connect with them on an expressive level, but with her, my poetry writing found a willing ear that always listened and helped me to unfold the context within my poems.

She was a great listener and the peace maker whenever a conflict arose. Having an older and younger brother meant that she was always stuck in the middle of their teenage angst and coming of age phases. From them, she learned quickly and became a mediator for friends and family conflicts. She was also a very silly and happy girl. Her jokes might have caused my jaw to drop a few times, but I always reminded myself of the kind heart she possessed. She was planning on going to the Peace Corp. after college. I wish I could have told her how proud of her I was for making such an important decision in life and for willingly helping others in need.

Justyna was also academically gifted. She was reading before all of her classmates and always expressed curiosity in school. Multiple times, her teachers recommended that she skip a grade and advance herself academically. I was always scared that she would not fit in with the kids older than her and that I would have one less year with my daughter before going off to college. She was only a year away from graduating high school before her tragic accident took away a beautiful life.

She will always remain with us in our hearts, spirits and minds. We will always remember the beautiful person that my daughter Justyna was. Thank you.