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Marie Giannini Obituary
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Memories and Condolences
for Marie Giannini
Cecelia Sawyer
September 5, 2009
HI Aunt Marie! I'll bet you are happy being with ALL that we've lost. Do me a favor; give my mom and dad a hug from me! Miss you ALL!!!
Love, Cecelia
Steve Giannini
September 4, 2009
Happy Birthday Mom.
Steve Giannini
December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas Mom.
Daniel Giannini
November 5, 2008
One year in heaven. I miss you. Danny
Michael Giannini
September 1, 2008
Happy Birthday Nanny
Love You
Nicole
August 31, 2008
Happy Birthday Nanny! I miss you terribly. Love you<3
Steve
August 31, 2008
Happy Birthday.
Jacquie Giannini
May 11, 2008
Happy Mother's Day! I miss you more than you could ever imagine.
Mike Giannini
May 11, 2008
Happy Mothers Day
Love You
Daniel Giannini
May 11, 2008
On this your first Mothers Day in heaven, we all miss you very much and have fond memories of past Mothers Days. We can't seem to get your cheesecake recipe right so please send us a some sort of sign with instructions on what we are doing wrong.
P.S. Benji says hi
Steve Giannini
May 10, 2008
Happy Mothers Day, your missed very much.
Daniel Giannini
November 14, 2007
Eulogy for Marie Giannini
Read at Lindenhurst Funeral Home on November 7, 2007
Thank you all for coming to pay your respects to my mother. You all know that she was a kind and giving soul. She was a one of a kind person, whose life was focused on bringing joy to others. A rare quality in today’s world.
Over the past 4 months, I have had an extraordinary opportunity to spend more time with her than I have spent in total over the past 20 years. And rather than try to summarize her 77 years, I would like to focus on these last few months. And to let her know how I felt, I have written her a letter.
Dearest Mother,
Even though you are in heaven now, I wanted to write you this letter. We don’t always say the things we feel to the ones we love so I hope to remedy that with these words.
First and foremost, to tell you that these last few months living with you have been both the most rewarding and, at times, the most excruciating of my life. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to stay at home with you and to try to help you thru your illness. Most adult children don’t get the opportunity to interact with their mother on a daily basis after they have moved out. I guess if you hadn’t gotten sick, it wouldn’t have happened. And in hindsight, maybe that’s how God planned it.
Sleeping back home was a little unsettling at first. After children grow up and are independent for so long, coming back home to live takes a bit of adjustment. But you made me feel comfortable right from day one. It was like I never left home 35 years ago.
Every morning, we would wake up and I would help you out of bed so we could have breakfast together. You liked toast with yam and a cup of hot tea or sometimes a bowl of rice krispies. The doctor said you needed to eat protein so some days I could talk you into eggs and bacon. It took me a while to get the eggs just as you liked them. Sorry for those overdone fried eggs and over-salted scrambled eggs. You ate them the first time without saying anything and it wasn’t until the next time that I made eggs that you would say, “Try to use a liiiittle less salt” or “over easy means they shouldn’t be able to bounce around the room”.
We would sit at the kitchen table and talk. We had the chance to really talk since it wasn’t a situation where it was a party and we had a bunch of distractions or that we only had a limited amount of time. It was a relaxed and comfortable opportunity. We would reminisce about dad and Michael and talk trash about people we didn’t like.
I would line up all your pills and I would remind you what pill was for what. You hated taking pills or drinking the protein shake. I had to mix some pills with applesauce to mask the taste and I had to doctor up the protein drink with bananas, strawberries and ice cream. You still made a face and we both laughed.
On the days that the physical therapist was coming, you had me help you do your exercises so that the therapist wouldn’t get mad that you weren’t practicing every day. I was so proud of you that you went from not being able to walk, to using the walker, to walking with the cane, and then on your own. You worked so hard and you did it. Even though you got so tired, you wanted to get better and you wanted to be independent. Some days you would get frustrated and break down and cry. I told you it was OK to cry, that we would do it together. You would get over your self-doubt and go back to trying. I learned so much from you about determination and fortitude.
For lunch, I would make you a grilled cheese sandwich or some chicken soup. Most days you weren’t very hungry but you knew you had to eat to get better so you forced yourself. You kept saying to me that you wanted to get your old life back and I was as determined as you to give you that opportunity. You taught me perseverance in the face of adversity and, I didn’t say it then but I have to say it now, thank you for that lesson.
At dinner time, I had to arrange eating around your shows “Dancing with the stars” and “Entertainment tonight”. And even though your appetite was small, you had cravings for pasta olia’olia, chicken cutlets and pork chops with Oven-Fry seasoning – not Shake and Bake, Oven Fry. You even showed me how to make your famous peach pie. You peeled the peaches and we would cut the dough into strips so we could make the top of the pie a criss-cross design. For some reason that was critical to the pies success. It had to look nice. All of us that you left here on earth will remember the fabulous foods that you have prepared for the parties over the years. You worked so hard to make them perfect.
And even though you’re not a quote-un-quote “dog person”, you realized how important my little Benji was to me and you welcomed him into your home. Since we were eating 3 meals a day at home, and Benji was a little begger, you couldn’t resist sneaking some food to him under the table. To the point where Benji put on a few pounds and you nicknamed him “the little fat boy”. He knew you loved him. Dogs are perceptive that way. Some days when you were not feeling so good, Benji would sense that and he would leave my room and would sleep on the floor next to your bed.
Our days were spent in the sunroom with me working on the computer and you on the couch resting or reading those horrible tabloid magazines. It is very upsetting to me to now look aver at the couch and see it empty. I guess Benji sensed that and, don’t get mad, but Benji’s favorite spot now is to sleep in the exact spot where you could sit and wrap himself in the blanket that you used to cover your legs. I guess that’s his way of trying to help me fill the void now that you are gone.
And now when I mention your name, he wags his tail and looks for you. He misses you, as I do.
The day you died, I sat at your bedside and held your hand and even though you couldn’t talk because of the ventilator, when I mentioned that the little fat boy was waiting for you at home, you smiled and squeezed my hand. That moment will stay with me forever.
The house is so empty now. I go home but it feels cold. Your presence and love are missing. But I take a minute to think back over these past few months and I know we had a good time. Even though I didn’t put the frying pans back in the cabinet in descending size order and didn’t match up the pasta pots with their corresponding lids like you kept it before I came.
I’m sure you have heavens house all in proper order. It’s selfish of me to wish this but I keep hoping that if you give God a hard enough time, he’ll throw you out and send you back to me. In the mean time, we will miss you, we will think of your often and pray that god likes an orderly heaven and keeps you safe and warm.
Your loving son,
Daniel
Nicole Giannini
November 6, 2007
No words can capture what you mean to me
Your love has always filled my life beyond words
Whether by softly scratching my back
Or tickling my arms to put me to sleep
(On the pastel hearted pillowcase, of course)
I always felt your love and support
Everything had to be puuurple
And you always abided by that rule
“Save the bows” we’d shout every year at Christmas
The thought of throwing them out was absurd
Hiding your desserts so no one would eat them and
Now wanting you to stay with me forever
I’m sorry if I’m being selfish
Turn on the TV and hear Andrea Bocelli
Or see ice skaters floating around
You’re the first one I would call
Celebrity gossip and Dancing with the Stars
Were always topics of fun conversations
Even though we’d wind up making fun of them all
AnnTaylor Loft could shop in your closets and
Their bags were the means of transportation
For everything ever brought to the post office
Cake for my birthday in the office during the summer
Just because I wasn’t around in April
You lived to made me feel special and loved
I’ll say goodbye as you always did so on the phone
“Bye now,” you’d say, “Love you Nanny”
Say hi to Poppy and Uncle Mike for me
Knowing that the three of you are shining down on me
Is the only way I am able to survive
Love Always Your Granddaughter,
Nicole Marie
Some of the Grandkids. RIP<3
November 6, 2007
Nanny and Me. I love you!
November 6, 2007
Nanny and Poppy <3 RIP
November 6, 2007
RIP<3
November 6, 2007
Rest in Peace.
November 6, 2007
I love you.
Jacquie Giannini
November 6, 2007
If there’s was one thing I’ll never forget about Nanny it was that whenever one of us got sick, no matter how serious it was, she would immediately respond with broth and jell-o. Not only did she have the answer to any medical problem but she could also end any argument. I remember a time when we were all eating Sunday dinner at her house and I saw that Michael ate the entire plate of chicken cutlets. So I said gees Michael you ate that whole plate? And immediately nanny would jump in and say Jacquie! Leave him alone he’s a growing boy! As soon as I heard that line I knew she had won that battle, as always. Nanny was also one of the most giving people I have ever known. Not only in the sense of physical gifts (which we all know she even made Santa look bad) but in every sense of the word giving. She was always there for me no matter what the situation. Nanny was the true definition of strength. Even when her son passed away she was the rock that held me together. She could have fallen apart but she knew how much I needed her and never once did she fail. Even when she was sick she maintained her strength. Her attitude about life never changed and she continued to make each day count. Because of Nanny I learned that no matter what, your family will always be there for you. Family is the only sure thing in this life and without them I would not have become who I am today. I feel as if words cannot truly even begin to describe the impact she had not only on my life but everyone she came in contact with. I know that if I ever become half the person she was; I will be happy. She taught me more about life and being a good person then anyone. Nanny may you rest in peace and thank you for all the amazing times we have had together. You raise me up to more then I can be.
Michael Giannini
November 6, 2007
Nanny,
I love you so much, it was unfair for you to have been taken like that, life will never be the same with out you, rip I love you!!!
Cecelia Sawyer
November 6, 2007
Fun Times... Family Times.... a Great Laugh... a Pretty Face ... Four Handsome Sons ... Enough Love to Hug Grandchildren ... Will be missed ... Was Loved....
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