I would first like to thank everyone for the outpouring of support for our family. First, to our neighbors who have brought food, mowed our lawn, and sent flowers. To those who came to the viewing yesterday and shared wonderful stories and thoughts about mom and reminded us how special she was to so many of the people she has touched throughout her life. To the members of wellspring church who honor her today, and helped give her life such great meaning in the past years even into her final days. To the relatives who have traveled great distances to pay their respects, and also to Donna and Dan who helped me get here on such short notice. And also id like to thank the family friends, and all those who never even met Jan who are here to support me and my family.  Many people have spoken to me about my mothers many virtues, her unshakable patience, boundless energy, and loving hospitality. Her constant smile, her joyful laugh, and unabashed antics and humor. My mother was clever, practical, and even wily at times. It is inconceivable that I could have achieved what I have had she not been there to guide me through my formative years. I would like to give thanks to mom, and give some insight into what it was like to have Jan as my mother.

Mom, I'd like to thank you for being involved in almost everything I ever did. You were the one that brought oranges for soccer practice. The one who was on the PTA of every school I went to. You coached my OM teams over many years. You volunteered for everything. You were the computer lady at Alans elementary, mrs frazzle at my school fair, and chaperoned countless field trips.  You cracked the whip when it was time to do homework, and were there to help when I got stuck.  You made our house an impromptu study hall for my friends before the tests, you challenged me to strive for knowledge and stretch my brain.

Thank you mom for putting a meal on my plate every single night. It never mattered to you that I was a brat and complained about the crunchiness of the green beans. It didn't matter to me that we ate lots of shake and bake, or that you often burned the chicken.  You would sweat it out in the kitchen every night so that we could sit as a family around the table and go to bed with stomachs stuffed to the brim. You extended this to my friends as well as alan and heathers friends whenever they needed, when they didn't necessarily have a dinner to go home to.

Thank you mom for never letting the world forget how important we were to you. There isn't one person whom I spoke to last night that already knew everything about what I and my siblings have done or were doing. She was so proud of us that she let everyone and anyone know about it. She revered her family, the most important thing in the world to her, even as we did not always appreciate it, even as we sometimes took it for granted.

Thank you mom for being a caring and faithful wife to my dad. You have shown us all what it means to be truly committed, and to truly love. When my dad had his own bought with health problems, you spent every day and many nights at his side, patiently helping, and never asking for anything in return. For you it was enough that you could continue to spend your days with him, and that your children had a father.

Lastly I thank you for teaching me the valuable lesson to take people as they are, to understand rather than judge, and to always give to those who need. You took in many of my friends and Alan and heather's friends as if they were family, never ceasing to make sure they succeeded in school, to make sure they had a place to be, a home away from home. I believe this to be a cornerstone of my moral compass today, and I can only hope I will ever have the endless understanding and love for people that you did.

Now that you are gone I start to see the littlest things which will now leave such large holes in my life.

I will miss the way you refused to let me make my own sandwich or my own laundry when I came home. You pretended that it was because I didn't know how to take care of myself, but I know that it was really because it brought you such joy to make me feel home, and to nourish me and care for me.

I will miss you embarrassing me at line at the grocery store, telling a random stranger in the line about our lives, or how I was doing well in school. It never mattered if a person was friendly, in your mind they were immediately  a friend.

I will miss how you had me married in your head to every girl I ever even remotely mentioned. I know that you only wanted the happiness in my life that you had gotten from your own family.

I will miss the way you hugged me, the way you always got choked up when you knew you wouldn't see me in a while, how you couldn't hide how much you missed me.

In this unexpected tragedy, it seems unfair and cruel that Jan was taken from us when she had so much left to give, and so much life left in her. But for 61 years what she gave to us and to the ones she knew is so much more than what any one of us probably ever deserved. There are few people in the world who can compare to her in these ways, and for that we must consider ourselves lucky that we had her for as long as we did. Even in her final hours, she showed more concern for our well being than she did for her own life. We will continue to feel her love and concern, even as she has left this world, through the memories and consequences of her actions. For this mom, I give the greatest thanks, I love you, and you will be missed by all.