“Wonder: My Mom had what I like to describe as a childlike sense of wonder. She could find beauty in anything, and would marvel at the smallest details of life, from the plants in her garden, to the unique way a dog walked, to how the changing light made the water look different. And she wanted others to see this beauty, too. Isn’t it neat, she would say. Or, Look how pretty... I might not have noticed if it weren’t for her. She made the world come alive for me. She turned the ordinary into the extraordinary.”
Peggy was born October 15, 1954 to George and Delores Sharpe. She was the third of five children. Her two older brothers (Patrick and Michael) defended her more than they teased her. Her two younger sisters (Susan and Carolyn) were her good friends. Always just a little bit of a rebel, she left Catholic School education when finishing at St.Norbert’s and entered public high school at Crestwood. From High School she entered Henry Ford Community College Nursing School and obtained an associate’s degree and became an RN. Her first job was at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, where she was later followed by both of her sisters, Sue as a nurse and Carolyn as a physical therapist.
While a nurse on the burn unit (Burn Nurses Rock) she met Michael who arrived at Children’s in July of 1977 as a Pediatric Surgery Fellow. Her friends and family, sincerely wishing to protect her, warned her about the dangers of dating an older man (divorced with a child), but for her rebellious nature disregarded these warnings. Peggy and Michael were married April 20, 1979 at Mariner’s Church in Detroit.
Michael’s first job was in Albuquerque, New Mexico where Peggy became a nurse on the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. The next year (1980) they moved to Ann Arbor, MI where she again worked in the PICU at the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Andrew was born in August and when Michael had an emergency case, he would bring Andrew into the PICU to occupy an empty bed where Peggy could keep an eye on him.
Peggy was happy to be back in Michigan and near her family, and even happier when Michael went to the Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit and the family could move to Grosse Pointe in 1983. The next year Elizabeth was born. Andrew and Elizabeth really knew no other home than 1049 Kensington. With Peggy’s guidance the family quickly became immersed in community activities of all sorts, especially swim team and hockey. As Andrew and Elizabeth grew and became more independent, Peggy went back to work part time, mostly at CHM and mainly in the preop area.
She lived and full and adventurous life traveling to Egypt, Qatar, Europe and China to name only the exotic locations. She saw Andrew teach third grade, and later get his PhD from Rice University where he is teaching now. She saw Elizabeth graduate from medical school at Loyola and go on to a residency in neurosurgery in Detroit. Her genuine appreciation of other people and interest in their lives reminded us all of her father George and was responsible for her incredible charm which eased Michael and the rest of the family through many social situations.
Funeral Blues
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message 'He is Dead'.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
I carry your heart with me
I carry your heart with me, I carry it in my heart,
I am never without it, anywhere I go you go,
My dear; and whatever is done by only me
is your doing, my darling.
I fear no fate, for you are my fate, my sweet
I want no world, for beautiful you are my world, my true
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
Here is the deepest secret nobody knows,
here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
I carry your heart, I carry it in my heart.