In Honor of the Lifetime of My Mother

At my mother's memorial ceremony yesterday, I provided the below to all attending as a handout honoring the life of my beloved mom. 💜🙏 Molly

Nancy Marilyn Moesta Strong

June 5, 1926 – June 20, 2020

 

“She overcame much to embody an

awakening heart and beautiful soul,

radiating the miracle, beauty,

and power of love.”

 

Nancy was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1926.

She grew up in Grosse Pointe, a suburb of Detroit,

and was the only child of Amalia and Marvin

Moesta. Nancy was shy but well-liked by her

classmates, graduating from Grosse Pointe

High School in 1944 – where her twins would

also graduate in 1969. Nancy enjoyed horseback

riding, tennis, swimming in Sylvan Lake and Lake

St. Clair, and helping in the war efforts during

the second World War. She went on to attend

Duke University and the University of Michigan.

 

 

Early in the year of 1949, Nancy met John Ward

Strong on a blind date. Jack, as he was known,

was a very handsome bachelor 11 years her senior

and a chemist who was the lead researcher at

Parke Davis, a pharmaceutical company in Detroit. 

After a whirlwind romance, Jack and Nancy were

married on June 25^th, 1949. They honeymooned 

in Burmuda. Just over 1-1/2 years later, on 

March 25th, 1951 Nancy gave birth to twins, 

Molly and Johnny. This was both a joy 

and a great challenge.

Over the following years, Nancy's great passion for

travel led her to plan family trips to Florida, Bermuda,

Washington DC, New York City, Europe, and to the

western and eastern parts of the country. After the

twins grew older, Jack and Nancy continued to travel

to the Caribbean, Europe, and Canada.

The following years of Nancy's life brought many

losses. Jack died suddenly in 1975, and just over

two years later John committed suicide. There were 

three more marriages which followed, each ending 

in divorce or death. In the midst of travel adventures

and various moves to Arizona, back to Michigan,

and then to Florida, there were these great losses.

Then, in 2013, Nancy moved to live near Molly and

her family in the Pacific Northwest. It was this part

of Nancy's life that brought the greatest gifts, grace,

and miracles. There was the loving presence of Molly

and Ron, grandsons Brian and Kevin and Matthew,

and great-grandchildren Oliver, Eleanor, and Ethan

who were born. This was the time when Nancy was

able to “let sorrow be the doorway into an open

heart.” Over the last seven years of Nancy's life,

it was the power of compassion, grace, and love

that made the impossible possible. It was the

power of love that changed everything.

“The more we love, the more real we become.”

– Stephen Levine

 

 

Our true nature

is a beautiful jewel

in a lotus flower

floating on a lake

in the center

of our heart.