Mr. Comuniello
Moreau FYE
4 March 2022
In Loving Memory of 
	Usually when people give eulogies, they recount the stories about the person that made them laugh. Moments full of pure joy, emotion, happiness. But the problem with Abygail is that her whole life was one happy story. She was an Indiana native…go Hoosiers, but not the IU Hoosiers. She was the oldest of seven kids to parents Barb and Bryan, and from an early age, began to learn everything she ever needed to know about life. How be a role model, how to be a leader, how to care, how to be kind. And not all these lessons came from her family, we did some of that too! And that’s the way she chose to live her life. She was always active, trying every sport out there until she found one that she liked. In middle school it was swimming and soccer. High school: rowing. But, in the classroom, she was smart as a whip, and her intellect and her love of learning carried her so far in life. She always wanted to know more until there was nothing left for her to know. She attended the University of Notre Dame where she graduated with a Bachelor’s in Biological Sciences and a minor in Bioengineering. While at Notre Dame, she was on the women’s water polo team and a member of student government. When she was not at one of those two places, she was a resident of Cavanaugh Hall probably playing all the interhall sports she didn’t ever have time to play. Being part of such a loving community meant the world to her. She was always looking for a place to make a difference in this world, no matter how small, and she did that both at Notre Dame and out in South Bend, She continued to medical school and earned her MD, practicing medicine in the hospital system. Her family was always so supportive of her dreams and whatever she wanted to do with her life, and this had always made sense for her. This career fit Abygail perfectly and embodied her passions in life. Despite her long list of schooling credentials, she got married and had four kids. When not at work, she loved spending time with every one of them: going on hikes, baking, travelling. Anything thar made her smile and laugh because they were infectious. She always loved sharing her passions with those she cared about the most and wanted to live her life with them and for them. To share her love of life with those around her. In her spare time, which let’s be honest, was not very much for this hard-working, determined doctor and mother, she loved to give back to her community through service and through her church. As the years passed, she was a work horse, and when it came for retirement, she didn’t really want to go. She was not the kind of person to give up what she loved, but she loved her husband more than anything in this world, and when he begged, she willingly went. She retired in the mountains to look at the beauty of the world from a place far away. To enjoy the peace and serenity that she had earned after everything she did with her life. She is survived by her four children and her brothers and sisters. Abygail was a remarkable woman who has left behind an intangible legacy. Let us continue to let live and let love to celebrate her life.

A lot of what I wrote in my eulogy centered around sharing my life with other people, not just the ones I am related to. Pico Iyer, in his TED article gave this one quote: “In the end, all journeys have to bring us home” (Pico Iyer, “Why we Need to Slow Down Our Lives, Moreau FYE Week 1). Home for me has always been my family and my friends. Being able to do what I love with who I love. Being satisfied with what I have done. All these things fit into what I believe is a life well lived. Throughout my life, people have been with me through everything, and I have always felt called to share that with others and be that someone for other people. My first year at Notre Dame has been a time where I am starting to figure out what that looks like for me. For Fr. Hesburgh, it meant standing up for what you believe in, regardless of what others say. Throughout the documentary “Hesburgh,” he used his faith as a foundation for all of his actions, all of his beliefs beyond the church, and with strength like that, he was able to accomplish whatever he set his mind to (“Hesburgh”, Moreau FYE Week 2). I do have a firm foundation in my faith and my beliefs, but I am not quite at that point in my life, but I do hope that by the time someone is really reading my eulogy at my actual funeral, that they will be able to say that I have done that and done it successfully. I also want people to recognize the qualities in my life I see as strengths of my life and not dwell on my shortcomings as Eurich recommends in her article (Tasha Eurich, “The Right Way to Be Introspective (Yes, There’s a Wrong Way)”, TED, Moreau FYE Week 6). I want people to see in my life after I have died, there is also the question of what I have done with my life, and so I spent a portion of my eulogy reflecting on that. Sister Aletheia in the New York Times article talks about her idea of memento mori and looking at life through the lens of death. Though I had never really thought of it that way before, she gives this one nice quote: “Memento mori is: Where am I headed, where do I want to end up?” (“Meet the Nun Who Wants You to Remember That You will die”, NYT, Moreau FYE Week 3). I reflected on my career path and career decisions and how it was mostly based on my passions, because I feel that is the best way to live a life that you are satisfied with, a life where you have ended up where you wanted to be. The career activities from the Merulo Family Center for Career Development only helped me solidify the idea that I want to go to medical school and that being a doctor is the right plan for me (“Navigating Your Career Journey” Moreau FYE Week 4). In my eulogy, I also talk a lot about the role of my friends in my life. Having friends that will sit down and have an honest conversation about what you want to do with your life (“Discernment Conversation,” Moreau FYE Week 5) are the kind of friends that want to stick around. They’re the kind of people that I would want to be writing my eulogy in the future (the very far of future that is). And lastly, speaking of people, they are the crux of my life. It is through them I am going to make a difference as I claim in my eulogy, as Fr. Greg Boyle did in Tattoos of the Heart. Beyond his friends, beyond his comfort zone, he made it his mission to build relationships with at risk youth and made a real difference. He saved them from a life of crime. He gave them purpose. He made a difference. It is those kinds of interactions with not only my friends and family, but the people I meet that make a difference in the world (Fr. Greg Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart-Ch.8, Moreau FYE Week 7). And that is all I want out of my life. I want to love, be loved. Be happy, be satisfied, and make a difference. That is what I believe it means to live a life well lived, and that is what I have conveyed in my eulogy.