"quote from the Women's Words Daily, 'life loves to be taken by the lapel and told,"I am with you kid,. Let's go!' ~Maya Angelou
I wonder if Mary picked that to put on the calendar, sounds like her. And she DID "go"."
--- from Ampa Drinia (AKA Aunt Virginia)
--- from Ampa Drinia (AKA Aunt Virginia)
"It's hard to imagine a world without her."
"We come. We go. And we remember. Mary will continue in my heart..............."
"She was a dynamo with a big heart."
Mary, Dave and I go way back - to L.A. in the '70s. Alice was 4 and they were living in marginal student housing at UCLA. They had just painted their liviing room, covering all walls with grass, flowers, trees, butterflies, and the ceiling was blue with clouds. Trippy and fun! Actually that's my strongest memory of Mary - creative, imaginative, initator and loads of fun. We all spent days tie-dying shirts and making weird meals (they grew a bumper crop of salsify that year in the community garden). Around the same time Mary was in grad school and told me for her final in a class she had to give a lecture on something to do with California geography, as I recall. To visually accompany her talk she baked a giant cake of California, with frosting mountains, rivers, etc. After her report they all dug into the cake. I stole her idea and made all sorts of cakes for my kids to take to school on different topics - massive red llips of licorice with marshmallow teeth to go with learning dental hygiene; a human body complete with red and blue arteries and veins when studying biology; all the islands of Japan for international studis. I'm sure my sons will continue the tradition with their children - all to Mary's credit. Another special memory was of Mary coming to the 30th birthday party of my husband dressed as a fairy godmother, complete with magic wand., and flitting around making guests wishes come true. There are many more fabulous memories, but you get the picture. She was one of a kind and left her mark indelibly on me and I'm sure many others. by Geran Ranney
ReplyDeleteThanks Geran! What great stories - a part of Mary's life that I never knew.
ReplyDeleteAm still struggling with a sense of disbelief - when I think of Mary, I think of her kindness, wisdom, sense of fun, political horse sense, ability to keep a secret, practicality - she always seemed to know what to say, and when to say it.
ReplyDeleteMy memory of Mary will always be her easy access to her "inner child". She had a ready laugh and a goofy sense of homor.
ReplyDeleteI'll miss her...
Ron Hayes