Kuipers 

Taylor Kelly
Moreau
28 February 2022
Raleigh’s Eulogy

	“It’s easy to feel as if we’re standing two inches away from a huge canvas that’s noisy and crowded and changing with every microsecond. It’s only by stepping farther back and standing still that we can begin to see what that canvas (which is our life) really means, and to take in the larger picture” (Week 1). 
	
	All too often throughout life, we get lost in the details. The conversations. The birthdays. The classes. The trips. The stresses. The sufferings. The changes. We get so bogged down in the mundane, the everyday, and the tedious that we forget to appreciate the entirety of life. On this day, however, I want to take a step back from the canvas Raleigh painted through every day of her life, and look at the whole picture. 
	When recounting her earliest memories, she told me about wishing ardently for a younger brother to race matchbox cars down the thin hard-wood hallway of her childhood home. Though she ended up with a sister before her two brothers were born, she loved all of her siblings passionately. She was always their advocate, their inspiration, and their support. From playing Minecraft with her brothers, to rewatching the Barbie movies with her sister, to baking food for the family, she constantly showed her love for them. Even when she was busy with school and work or away at college, she always made time for her family. 
	This facet of her life prompted her father to observe that she valued relationships and people above all else (Week 5). No matter who you were, she would always be there to listen, to make you laugh, and to support you. She always gave second chances, even when it might not have been the healthiest for herself, because she desperately wanted to see the best in people. 
	No matter who she was with, she strove to make sure they felt included and wanted, even if their opinions or background differed from hers (Week 7). She knew what it felt like to be discluded and overlooked, so she made it her mission to ensure that others did not have to feel that way. In addition to striving to achieve this goal in her day-to-day interactions, she used her education to learn about social, political, and economic issues and what she could to remedy them. In this respect, she was similar to Father Hesburgh, the late president of her beloved University of Notre Dame, who also strove to promote equality and peace (Week 2). Lifting others up always brought her joy, and the world would have benefitted tremendously from her efforts and spirit for many more years, no matter what career she would have chosen (Week 4). 
	Though she undoubtedly brought joy, laughter, and comfort to many people, she was ultimately an individual. Even when she was quiet, her brain was always moving. She was constantly asking “what” and “why” questions to help her understand herself and others better (Week 6). She was constantly learning more about herself so she could improve as an individual, a friend, a daughter, a student, and as a sibling. 
She found happiness in the small things: the crunch of fallen autumn leaves, the architecture of the buildings she passed, the inside jokes with herself, the creation of a new playlist, the unfurling of a new leaf on her Monstera plant, the warmth of a fresh latte, and the endless ether filled with stars. She loved learning, reading poetry, and writing. She was always jumping at the chance to hike, travel, and experience new places. She cared about sustainability and social justice. Raleigh was incredibly sarcastic and loved to laugh. She was genuinely obsessed with smoothie bowls and drinking water out of dainty teacups or champagne glasses because it is more fun that way. She used her creativity to not only make art but also to craft delicious drinks for others (both at work and in her dorm-room mini coffee shop). Both her bedroom at home and her dorm room at college were bursting with life from all of the plants she collected. Her notebooks were filled with not only notes but also endless doodles. Her camera roll was populated with not only goofy pictures with friends but also of small things she thought were funny or beautiful. Her memory was filled with laughter, loneliness, joy, pain, and endless sarcastic comebacks she came up with in the shower (usually days or even months after an argument had taken place). Some of her most cherished memories were eating brunch with her dad at Wolfgangs (where she would challenge herself to eat the full plate of waffles), going to football games with her friends at Notre Dame, hiding notes around the Starbucks kiosk with her coworkers, and exploring the ruins of a cathedral in London with her family. 
	Raleigh was incredibly driven in everything she set her mind to, setting high expectations for herself to excel in school, sports, and work. She was able to attend the university of her dreams, play competitive volleyball, get promotions at work, win competitions, volunteer, and go on mission trips. She had plans to travel the world, to live abroad, to marry, and someday to have a family of her own. She wanted to donate money to hundreds of charities, volunteer her time, research, and inspire others to do the same. 
	We often think of death as darkness. As something that only brings pain. However, Raleigh would have told us to listen to Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble’s words: “it’s actually in facing the darkest realities of life that we find light in them” (Week 3). Above all, Raleigh was a woman full of faith in God. She trusted in His plan and accepted that if God was calling her home, it was time to go. Though individually, she could have achieved so much more in this world, perhaps she achieved more through touching all of our lives. We will always miss her smile, spirit, and wise words, but we can carry on her legacy by constantly striving to improve the world around us. It’s what she would want us to do.