Granny's Eulogy

I am going to do this tomorrow at Granny's funeral with the Grace of GOD and Granny as my guardian angel. Please say a prayer for me that I can get through this with out breaking down.



A Celebration of Life....


Bernice Arlene Daniels Brittingham was born on March 30, 1925 to Arlie and Maude Daniels in Cedar Island, NC. She had four brothers, Edwin, Frank, Durwood, and Neil and one sister Gloria.
After marrying her beloved husband Bill they moved to Philadelphia for a short time, but it was not long before she was back on Cedar Island. Bill’s job would take them to Kinston, NC for a short time and then they came back to Carteret County. They spent several years raising their children in Morehead City before returning to Cedar Island. She and Bill were married for 31years. In that time they raised five children: Ralph Waide, Robert Derwood, Sandra Ann, Billie Jean and William Eber, Jr or “Buddy.” She was also proud of her grandchildren and if our math is correct there are 15 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.
Arlene held numerous jobs over the years. She worked at the shirt factory for sometime, before her and Bill opened the “Toot and Tell-It.”After returning to Cedar Island she worked at the Driftwood for over 20 years and Snug Harbor for 14 years. Her favorite of all would most likely be clamming.
Often in the summer time you could find her over on the banks shoals with a clam rake. She loved to be there and most times would catch almost as many clams as the younger men folk who had taken her clamming with them. She had her own clam rake and would know in a moment if it was missing, often calling Buddy to see if he happened to know its whereabouts.
Arlene dearly loved Cedar Island, but she also loved to travel and anyone whose has seen her refrigerator magnets knows that. However, her favorite destination was Springtown, Texas. Here she would stay for several weeks visiting with her daughter Billy and her family. Of course the highlight of this trip was spending time with Jessica. She loved Jessica and all of her grandchildren, with all of her heart and soul and they have been on many adventures together throughout the years.
In later years Arlene’s health started to decline, but it did not slow her down very much. She suffered from Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency causing her lungs to become weak. She was often short of breath, but she would just keep on going. She was recently hospitalized and after being discharged from Carteret General she went to Snug Harbor. However, before she could begin rehab she would find herself back at Carteret General. She was recovering from surgery but, she became weaker each day. On April 19th she was just too tired to fight anymore and went to be with her Lord that she dearly loved.
If you could use only one word to sum up Arlene’s life that would have to be: Amazing. For she was such an amazing mother, grandmother, mother-in-law and friend to many. We’ll surely miss you, but we know you are with us each step of the way, until we meet again.