Written on 10-29-17.
The funeral is over now, and I’ve spoken with the folks and Guy about how everything went. They all said it was a beautiful ceremony. I felt better knowing that Guy was there, and that fact alone relieved most of my guilt for not going. I am including the eulogy he read in this post, and it’s a wonderful tribute to Theresa…
Theresa Ruth Tuell, better known to her friends as TT, was born to Ruth and Marvin Tuell on January 2nd, 1960 in Wray, Colorado. She was the youngest of seven, with older sisters, June and Mary, and older brothers, John, Jim, Barry and Ray.
Most of her early years were spent in Eckley, Colorado, in a building that was converted from the original Eckley High School into a home.
Her brother Barry still remembers living with her in Eckley. Theresa would sometimes slip away from the house and gleefully run to the beckoning playground at the grade school down the block. Her siblings would often have to chase after her and bring her back home.
When Theresa was nine years old, she moved into a group home in Julesburg. The school was the first of its kind in Northern Colorado. It supported those with special needs. The school provided an appropriate education, and when Theresa was there, she developed a number of very close friendships.
From Julesburg, Theresa went to a group home and workshop in Sterling. After that, she moved to the Gayle Street Group Home in Fort Morgan, where she resided until her passing. She worked for years at the Noresco Workshop nearby. The jobs at the Noresco Workshop gave her and her friends great pride. Her work included placing strings on spools for tying tomato plants, counting fish hooks to put into boxes for sale, and making doormats. Over the years, the Noresco Workshop continued to provide her education.
Theresa had a large number of things that gave her great joy.
One of her greatest pleasures was simply coming home. She truly loved spending time with family. She loved it so much that when she realized she was being driven back to the Gayle Street House, she would try and redirect the driver.
Theresa could spend hours paging through catalogs and magazines.
She loved drawing and writing in coloring books
She loved playing matching games with Old Maid cards.
She liked working puzzles.
She loved to go to the mailbox, and she enjoyed receiving mail.
She really enjoyed music. During the 70’s, she loved listening to disco. She used to sit in the living room in Eckley, rocking to the beat of songs from Saturday night Fever and Donna Summer.
Her favorite foods were ice cream with chocolate syrup, yogurts, spaghetti, green beans, apples sauce, orange pop, pudding, ketchup (on everything) and pink shakes.
She had a bit of a sweet tooth. She went through a phase where she was literally fixated with bubble gum. She was constantly asking for it. Every time we’d see her she’d ask us if we had bubble gum. People would start to buy packs of gum before they knew they were going to see her. The interesting part is she gladly took the gum, but she rarely chewed it.
One of my favorite “sweet tooth” stories took place years ago. My brother and I were shopping for Theresa’s birthday, and we were struggling with what to get her. Ultimately, we chose a lollipop that spun around automatically. We told ourselves, “She’s gonna love it!”, and we were right; she loved it. I can still remember her sticking out her tongue and letting the lollipop spin around.
I remember before each Christmas, we would hold a joint birthday celebration with my father and Theresa (and later my brother’s wife Belinda, too). It was like the Bob and Theresa show. They’d take turns opening presents, and when it was her turn, she was always so excited to open her presents.
One of my fondest memories was Theresaisms. Theresaisms were special sayings and words that Theresa would say in her own unique way.
When she was said goodbye, she would say “later.” If she liked what you were doing, she’d say “you’re cute”, and if she didn’t like what you were doing, she’d call you a “dodo head”. I, myself, was the recipient of many a “dodo head” when I tried to give her a hard time.
Many of our family members still use Theresaisms today. I still use the term dodo head once in a while, and my brother Patrick and his daughter, Danielle, still say “later” the way Theresa used to say it (and the way I say it still doesn’t give it justice to the way Theresa said it!).
Throughout her life, the one constant was that she was a loving person. She had a beautiful smile and a great laugh. We will miss her love of family, her Theresaisms, and yes, her love of gum.
I wasn’t there last weekend when she passed, but I’m glad I got to be here this weekend. My only regret was that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, so I’ll say it now because I suspect she’s looking down on us, “Theresa, you’re cute. Later.”
