Thank you so much for being here and supporting our family at this time. We are so grateful for all of the calls, visits, food and flowers.

 I wanted to share a few thoughts that came to me as I was driving in from NYC and especially as I’ve been browsing thru old photos. Things that people who did not know my Mom well, probably didn't know.

--She was truly hilarious and completely irreverent! She could act as if she didn’t give 2

f---s about anything, really--(but, in truth, she cared way too much), she was a quick wit, and ALWAYS had a clever comeback that would make you laugh as she put you in your place with a smile.

She was the "life of the party" and she had a huge heart. Her one-of-a-kind laughter made everyone around her laugh even harder.

--She was very LUCKY (at the penny slots)—almost always winning some kind of jackpot but stayed within her limit of only a few $5 bills per visit.

—AND...She taught me the MOST important lesson of my life.That people CAN and DO change. For the better even!, that REALLY happens for some, and that lesson changed me and my life’s trajectory. Change takes a lot of work, and faith in God because it is a miracle. She started her life over at 50, I was amazed how she changed and grew.

By my Mom's example, I know for a fact that people are capable of completely transforming and making things right no matter how much wrong has been done. She passed on to us a legacy of healing and recovery and I'm so grateful and proud of her for that.

—She wanted children desperately and after years of trying, she ended up having us 2-- almost at the same time after a long struggle—Then she was blessed with grandkids Christina and Jojo and even great grand kids—Addison, Joel and Amara...and she loved us fiercely in every sense of the word, we were so very important to her. She was deeply devoted to us. She was a bright and dark and very funny, complicated person who gave so deeply of herself--she constantly emptied the well for us, though I'm not sure she ever mastered receiving or filling the tank back up for herself..

—But most of all she loved my father fiercely, too, and alternatively displayed her affection by jokingly (or sometimes not so jokingly) giving him a hard time--she gave him a "run for his money" and for 70 years, through all the hardships, they had a lot of fun and a ton of laughter together.. I witnessed their profound tenderness and care for each other in these recent years during her decline in health. Dad cared for her so well, we just didn't think she was going to go -not anytime soon- he stayed by her side singlehandedly making sure she could stay in her home, with him, for as long as possible.
My Dad kept up with her even though he's by nature a bit quieter, a bit more cautious--she

definitely could out yell him— I know that for a fact but she could not deny his love for her or hers for him ...they were an exceptional pair.
It's so hard to believe she is gone, but to me, she will always be around with a wise crack and a wry smile always helping in her full-on giant hearted, warm way.

We love you Mom.