Tribute

For almost 28 years, I had the best mother-in-law a man could ask for.  Sadly, she passed away recently.  She went quickly, with both of her kids there with her.  She was active to the end, spending this past Thanksgiving and Christmas with us and a New Year’s Eve party with her friends in Carlsbad.

I met her back in 1985, when she was about the age my wife is now.  We connected immediately, and not only because she knew there was a possibility I’d be taking her daughter off her hands.  She was as sweet then as she was during her recent Christmas stay.  She enjoyed my humor and was able to give as good as she got. She married her second husband the same year my wife and I married. The term “wonderful woman” came up more than once in the many sympathy cards we have received.  She was indeed.

She did not always have an easy road.  Her first husband suffered an extended illness, and passed away when she still had kids to support.  She did a great job with them and never lost her positive spirit.  She lost her second husband three years ago, caring for him until the end.

Yet she was always able to provide emotional support to others.  Her dozens of friends can attest to that.  She was with me the day I found out my newborn son had Down Syndrome.  I was devastated, but she assured me that things would work out.  She was right.

I imagine it was this same caring approach that made her a beloved teacher, gently ushering bewildered early grade students into their academic lives. When she retired, she enjoyed domestic and international travel as well as her many social engagements with San Diego friends that stretched back more than half a century.

She will be missed but never forgotten.