Kerry Kennedy, her lifelong friend, puts the depression that led to her sister-in-law's suicide into the context of Mary's life. It is an affecting and convincing eulogy:

Like millions of Americans, Mary suffered from depression. She had it for as long as I knew her, and as it reared up in high school, college and beyond, she fought it back, for a day, a week, a month. These last 6 years or more, she fought it as hard as she knew how.But that disease was not Mary herself. She was deeply Catholic, and she was an angel. And like the archangel Michael, who battled Satan when he tried to take over Heaven, Mary fought back the demons who were trying to invade the Paradise of her very being. She fought with everything she had. And I think God said to her "Mary, you have been my warrior on the front lines for too long, you have fought valiantly, and now I am bringing you home."Let's not forget they were only demons, not Mary herself, and it's everything else about Mary that is important, and for me, will abide. She was an angel, a gift from the Heavens. So let's not remember her for her despair, but let's take inspiration from her determination to heal the woundedness in herself and in those she loved.And let's live our lives, remembering hers, with tenderness towards one another and affirmation for our feelings, and go forth with compassion, exhilaration, laughter and joy.

H/T: The Dish

David Gibson is the director of Fordham’s Center on Religion & Culture.

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