A car accident that only took her life. But devastated so many.
Ma was a retired teacher, a volunteer at her church's mission, and a Red Cross volunteer at the satellite Navy pharmacy.
It was amazing hearing the stories from parents and students about my Ma. One young lady drove from Orlando to attend my Ma's memorial services. She shared with our family how my mother changed her life. A third grade teacher changed this young woman's life - and that teacher was my Ma.
I was also touched watching her group of volunteers from the mission. They fed everyone after Ma's Catholic funeral.
It's a funeral as long as the remains are present. Strange things you learn when a relative dies.
Ma was a Navy wife. She raised 3 of us and also took care of the dogs. Dad traveled a lot at some of our duty stations. And Ma kept our home going.
We are a family. We'd eat dinner together. Our parents would go to our ball games (softball, baseball, soccer). We had one TV and one phone. And rules were there to be followed. The structure helped. We moved about every 3 years. Moving that much can make or break a family.
Ma went through a lot. Her mother died when she was 14 or so. Her father died when she was in her early 30's. She's helped people involved in at least 2 vehicle accidents that occurred near our homes in 2 different cities. She's been through 3 or 4 hurricanes. She survived her oldest son almost dying while I was pregnant at 17.
The only really 'bad' thing Eric (the youngest) did was run away for a couple hours. But Ma was scared because we lived in front of railroad tracks. So he gets the trophy for being the first one to ride in a cop car.
I miss talking to her. I would call her every Friday while Dad was working at Margaritaville.
The last time I saw Ma was on Mother's Day. We didn't do anything special - just hung out. It was a good day. I got to hug her and tell her I loved her.
She loved my father.
It's a simple sentence, but it says a lot.
I've written different versions of this in my head over the past 2 weeks. Finally decided to just type and see what comes out. I may end up adding more as thoughts come to me.
