Colleen Blanchard Schuler, RIP

mothersstorycorpsOur colleague Dave Schuler lost his mother Sunday.   My  sincere condolences.

Dave eulogizes her in brief, moving fashion:

I have lost my oldest friend, my first teacher, and my most inspirational life model. My mother has died at 88.

One of my core beliefs is that the best way to preserve someone you love who has died in your heart is to do the things that person would have wanted to do. From this day forward I hope that, in addition to seeing, hearing, loving, and acting for myself, I will see with my mother’s eyes, hear with her ears, love with her heart, and act with her courage and joy.

It’s a tall order. She was and for me will always remain a great human being, one of the very best I have ever known.

May she rest in peace.

Photo from Mrs. Schuler’s appearance on NPR’s wonderful StoryCorps program, talking with her eldest daughter (and Dave’s sister).  Dave has the audio archived here.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Furhead says:

    It’s great listening to people with such experience tell their stories; Mrs. Schuler sounded very sharp and interesting in the StoryCorps interview. As someone who respects the work of her son, I will extrapolate that she was also a good mother. My condolences to Dave.

  2. Dodd says:

    My deepest condolences, Dave. Having lost a parent, I empathize with your grief.

  3. Rick Almeida says:

    Dave, I’m very sorry to hear about your loss. My thoughts are with you and your family.

  4. John Burgess says:

    My deepest condolences, Dave. I regret, too, that all those questions, little and big, that only she could answer are now without answer.

  5. G.A.Phillips says:

    My condolences.I pray for you and your family.