My Mom, Rose

Happy Birthday, Mom

Tuesday, Oct 30

We miss you. We love you.

My mom passed away on April 18 at about 6:00pm while visiting my sister Amy in Pennsylvania. She had battled for most of her life against Lyme Disease, and ultimately succumbed to bronchial pneumonia. It is a blessing that she went peaceably while lying in bed but it was a shock to all of us, as she was only fifty-nine.

Mom grew up in Laguna, California where she met my Dad who was in the Air Force at the time. She had me first, then my two sisters Shelli and Amy. 

My Mom remains among the most impressive people I have ever known. When I was eight, she found herself a divorcee and single mom, which was a much rarer thing in those days. She tackled the workforce of the mid seventies as a woman with a high school education; but with a mother's determination to take care of her children, a Mensa mind, and a well-developed talent for writing.

She started by doing clerical work at a temp agency that farmed out a lot of people to NASA (we lived in Mission Control town - Clear Lake, TX). In an era when there were few female professionals, she soon rose through the ranks, was hired as a full-time NASA employee, and became a Technical Writer. She actually wrote the computer manuals for the first generation of Space Shuttles!

Above: Left with me and Shelli and Brandon; Right with her husband James

Honestly, we've not ever been too traditional as a family. But this past Christmas I got it in my head that we should have a family Christmas. I called my sisters about it, and - by Gosh - we did. I am SO happy that we did that now. I had no idea it would be our last such opportunity.

Her husband James was a real blessing to my Mom. I'm glad she had him for so many years. He showed her love, and he is - even in the midst of his own pain - considering others first. That is in keeping with the finest traditions of the military culture within which he served for so many years. Salute and Semper Fidelis, James, if an Army guy can say that to you.

Heaven is a place where the occupants are not permtted to be exposed to anything bad. Thus, I don't believe that those who pass on are permited to "watch over us" per se...as that would often bring them pain when we go through the rough times. But the Earth is a place where Heaven-like joy is attainable on occasion. Like the birth of a child, for example. So I do believe that Mom'll be alowed a peek or two as Gaylene and I get married this weekend.

We'll have a rose there for you, Mom.

I love you

Online obituary :

Obituary guestbook

Postings About My Mom on Lyme Activist Site to which She Was a Regular Contributor

My Mom's Lyme Activism Website

(shown below at age 16)