The Celebration and Remembrance of a Life Well-Lived

Hannah was born July 8th, 2003 in Madison, Wisconsin. Even from day one her life was never dull, as she proceeded to scare all of her family by almost dying of a subdural hematoma (bleeding in her brain). From there it was established that she was a feisty girl with a lot of life in her. The oldest of three girls, Hannah rapidly showed her type-A oldest-child personality, just like her parents. She grew up moving around a lot, due to her father’s job, but it just instilled in her a love of travel. However, she always considered the Midwest, and specifically Wisconsin, her true home. 

	Hannah, like her father, spent 11 years in college. She attended all of them at the University of Notre Dame, and considered the school home and one of her favorite places on Earth. She spent her undergrad studying liberal studies and global affairs, concentrating in civil and human rights. She always knew she wanted to be a lawyer, so it was no surprise that after her undergraduate she immediately attended law school and got her J.D. in criminal law. Like her parents, she wasn’t satisfied until she had three degrees, going on to get her Masters of Law in International Human Rights Law. Throughout her law degrees, Hannah worked for a legal aid office in South Bend. After getting her third degree, she landed one of her dream jobs of working for the International Justice Mission. There, she worked as a prosecutor on cases involving the exploitation, human, and sex trafficking of women and children from around the world. She loved being able to help women and children, and tried her hardest to give them the life and justice they deserved. She believed that her work, one case at a time, could lead to the destruction of human and sex trafficking rings and lead to a safer and better future for everyone. Hannah considered the 15+ years she spent with the International Justice Mission to be some of her most successful and fulfilling years of her life. At 46 Hannah was given the opportunity of a lifetime to work for the United Nations. There she worked in the departments of Human Rights and International Law. She loved her job, and considered it to be one of her biggest achievements. After spending over 25 years with the United Nations, she retired, albeit slightly unhappily, as she was an innate workaholic. 

	Hannah, for most of her young life, said that she would never marry or have kids. God had other plans for her. She met her husband, a social worker, at the age of 36 on a sex trafficking case while working for the International Justice Mission. They instantly clicked, and got married four years later.  The two never had any biological children, but adopted an orphaned boy and girl from two different cases that Hannah worked on. Hannah loved them more than anything. Despite the large amount of traveling because of her job, Hannah tried to spend as much time with her children as humanly possible, and be there for all of their activities and events. Hannah valued experiences and quality time over gifts, so when the kids were old enough Hannah took them on many different trips around the world. She believed that exposure to foreign cultures was an essential part of life, and made the world more beautiful. Outside of her nuclear family, Hannah visited her extended family whenever she got the chance. She was always extremely close to her dad and her maternal grandparents, and spent as much time with them up until their death. When she was younger Hannah took multiple trips with her sisters, and frequently tried to see both of them whenever she got the chance. In regards to friends, Hannah always preferred quality over quantity. She stayed in touch with her high school friends as well as college friends, and developed many great friendships through both of her jobs. Her friends were all very good, hardworking people. Her best friend Cam played a huge role in her life, and outside of her father’s death and her husband’s death, Cam’s death took the biggest toll on her. 

	Although she was a workaholic, Hannah had many hobbies. She loved to be active. Running was her favorite pastime. In the summers she played volleyball and swam, and in the winters she loved to ice skate and ski. She was obsessed with the Olympics and the Iditarod. Once her children were old enough, she quickly got them into rock climbing, something Hannah had been doing for almost as long as she lived. Hannah was a huge animal lover, and had a number of dogs. She also loved horses and horseback riding. Hannah was a big board game and rpg game enthusiast. Saturdays were generally dictated as board games and D&D night whenever she wasn’t working. She was a big movie and tv fanatic, often binge-watching shows during any free time she had. Hannah’s two biggest passions were reading and traveling. She was always reading a new book (or re-reading favorites) or planning a new trip. 

	Hannah was smart, ambitious, hardworking, tenacious, loyal, and dedicated. She was a perfectionist by nature, and a typical first born in that she came out of the womb (a little) bossy and parental. She was fiercely independent and stubborn, but also fiercely loyal to her family, friends, and those she loved. She was a fixer and a feminist. What set Hannah apart was her ambition. She had goals, and she gave everything she had to achieve them. She didn’t care about societal norms, and wasn’t frightened by misogynistic conventions. People always said that Hannah had such a large and intimidating personality for someone so physically small. Hannah was known for being strong. She battled with anxiety and OCPD all of her life, but she never gave up in her fight. She was hardworking, and didn’t really stop being that way up until she died, as retirement didn’t really sit well with Hannah. She will be deeply missed for all of her qualities. 

I chose the elements in my eulogy because I believe they encapsulate my definition of a life well-lived. While I spent a lot of time focusing on work and education, I chose to include more information about her family life and hobbies to emphasize the importance of the need to “slow down our lives” ("Why we need to slow down our lives" by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week 1). I also chose to mention my father and best friend because of the inspirations they are to me in regards to a well-lived life. My father inspires me to love and pursue education, and to help  others constantly. Cam inspires me to take the time to think about myself and give myself some grace. These inspirations are a big part of me, as seen in all of the hobbies I have, but also the amount of time I spent in college and the job I chose. Although the three of us aren’t necessarily the same, as we have some differing values and personalities, “at the end of the day we [are] all fishermen”, in that we can always learn from and inspire each other, based on the humanity all of us have ("Hesburgh” by Jerry Barca and Christine O'Malley - Moreau FYE Week 2). 

I chose to spend a good amount of time talking about my hobbies because I enjoy the question “what are your obsessions”, because I really think they help define a person and how they live their lives ("Three Key Questions" by Fr. Michael Himes - Moreau FYE Week 3). My hobbies define me, and bring a lot of happiness to my life, and encompass a lot of my life, so bringing those to the forefront was important. Whether it is running, reading, traveling, or playing board games, these hobbies all provide stress relief and are a huge part of who I am. I chose to spend a lot of time on my college career and work career because I really love both, and they bring me so much joy. I find so much joy in learning and developing community, and my college career really encapsulates both. I love that I am helping others and making a difference in people’s lives and impacting the world in my job. Because of that I have found that my majors really are the “best major(s) for [me]” (“https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/” by Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week 4). 

Throughout my eulogy I mention my personality and my defining qualities and characteristics. Although some of the terms might not have a typically positive connotation, I have always been really confident in who I am, as demonstrated in the eulogy ("Week Five Discernment Conversation Activity" by Moreau - Moreau FYE Week 5). I chose to mention the mental health struggles I have dealt with because I feel that they are crucial in understanding that no one’s life is perfect, and there are always going to be obstacles in a person’s life. Although I have been one to “fixate on problems instead of moving forward”, I want to make it clear that you can move away from that in my eulogy, in pursuing your hobbies and taking time for stress relief (“The Right Way to be Introspective (Yes, There’s a Wrong Way)” by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE Week 6). Exercise and meditation are two ways that I have found to be profoundly helpful in dealing with my mental health. If you are stuck, and aren’t trying to deal with it, it doesn’t help achieve a well-lived life . 

Finally, I talked a lot about my existing family and the relationships I have in the eulogy. This is because in order to have a well-lived life, it has to depend on “our relations with others” (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week 7).

Overall, this eulogy encapsulates the elements of what I believe create a well-lived life. Having good family and friends, pursuing your hobbies, being confident in yourself, pursuing and loving learning and education, and having a job that you love that provides a service to society all create a well-lived life. Each part of the eulogy is important for a different reason in achieving a well-lived life. Without all of these parts, a well-lived life would not be achieved.