We Said Goodbye to Mom Today - An Elegy

In the fields of Pennsylvania, where the coal dust veiled the sun,

A young girl's strength was forged in strife, before life had begun.

Six siblings always looked to her with Mother by her side,

The heartbreak in the mineshaft the day her Father died.

Through the lean and hungry Thirties, a nature stubborn and strong,

She learned the art of making do, advising right from wrong

To waste or want, a frugal hand, a careful, loving heart,

That kept a home for all her own, and played a mother’s part.

With a weathered prayerbook in folded hands, she walked a sacred way,

A silent promise to her God, with every bead she'd pray.

She lived her faith in quiet acts, a grace within her soul,

A Catholic woman's steady peace that helped to make her whole.

And then she bore her only son, a love so deep and rare,

After the hope of five sweet lives had faded to despair.

Her worry was a kind of cloak, a shield against all harm,

To keep her son from danger within the circle of her arm.

Sixty years she stood beside the man she called her own,

Through joy and pain, through faith betrayed, as all the seeds were sown.

She saw him through the heart’s death ache, the mind’s slow, gentle fade,

A testament of loyal love, a life-long promise made.

Today we said our last goodbye and watched her rest in peace,

The weary weight of earthly cares, at last, has found release.

No longer burdened by the world, no struggle, doubt, or fear,

She sleeps in grace, her memory a comfort, ever dear.

The Life Behind the Stone - An Elegy

The name Maria Hutsko Vitalle on that weathered tombstone tells a story of a long life, spanning most of the 20th century. Born in 1909, she lived through immense change—the Great Depression, two World Wars, and the dawn of the new millennium. The inscription "Beloved Wife and Mother" speaks to her primary roles, roles that were likely the center of her world.

The phrase "Odpocivaj v pokoji" is a beautiful and poignant detail. It's a Slavic phrase meaning "Rest in peace." This verifies the connection to Eastern European heritage, from the Pennsylvania coal-mining communities. It's a final, loving farewell, a poetic elegy carrying the weight of tradition and a deep wish for her eternal rest.

The stone is a quiet marker of a woman who lived a full life—one of love, family, and endurance, a life that ended in 1999, just on the cusp of a new era.

Dobru noc, Mom.