Royce L. Duty

is honored with a Brick from David Duty.

My mother has always been the strong foundation of our family. For me, her qualities embody that of a healer, a nurturer, and a consoler. When I was a boy, she healed by skinned-up knee and many a broken heart. And when I grew up, she nurtured my dreams by giving me the confidence to try my wings. She also consoled me when things did not go my way.

But now I see my mother in a different light - a much brighter light. My father's affliction with Alzheimer's disease has been hard on all my family, but especially my mother. She is the sole caregiver to my father. I now see her qualities as a healer, a nurturer, and a consoler in a more brilliant light than I did as a child. She not only strives to heal, nurture, and console my father in his illness, she still has time to do the same for me. She heals my broken heart over the loss of future fishing trips with Dad. She nurtures my dreams by reminding me of how proud Dad would be of me. And she consoles me as I grieve through Dad's illness.

I am forever grateful to my mother for her healing, nurturing, and consoling touch upon our family. She has always been a heroine in my eyes. Therefore, I dedicate my mother's name to the Plaza of Heroines so that others may recognize her remarkable qualities.

Submitted by David M. Duty

September 16, 1998 (for Royce L. Duty)