The Passing of Liam Carter
A gentle giant, gone too soon
To hear the related 5-minute audio file that I uploaded today as my Morning Journal flash briefing for Alexa devices, please click on the play button:
Calling hours for Liam
William “Liam” Carter, the husband of our longtime family friend and helper Marie, passed five days ago after a long illness. He was 55.
At the calling hours in Brighton, Mass., I spent a few moments kneeling at Liam’s casket. He was holding a rosary. I sensed he had a message for me:
Be alive. Don’t miss anything.
My grandsons Jake and Ryan, 11 and 8, rushed to Marie for hugs as soon as we entered the funeral home. She was standing beside the open casket, but that didn’t stop them.
It was the first time the boys had been in the presence of a person who has departed. They spent most of the time in the next room looking at photos and visiting with family.
“He looked very asleep,” Ryan said in the car on the way home.
Marie will accompany Liam tonight on the flight to Ireland, where a Funeral Mass will be held in Galway.
He is survived by 24 nieces and nephews, many great-nieces and great-nephews.
The tribute page contains many heartfelt remembrances, including this one from Anne O’Brien:
The big quiet man from Galway was always kind and welcoming to us whenever we descended upon Liam and Marie from Ireland. Liam gave his time generously and was always willing to drop or collect us. The house is not the same without your calm, steady presence. May the angels wrap their wings around your gentle soul. Rest In Peace Liam.
And may those angels also hold Marie and her family close in the coming days and years.
In her decades-long care for my parents and the rest of our family, she has always shown me what love truly looks like in action.