Marcia Ann Close

Memorial Service: September 21, 2019, 11: 00 AM

Aldersgate United Methodist Church

9530 Starkey Rd, Seminole, FL 33777

From a Daughter’s Heart

by Michelle Close Mills

As I sit here trying to think of all the things my mother was to those who knew her, I wish we’d discussed it together.

We didn’t.

Talking about one’s obituary is an uncomfortable subject.

Plus, we always thought we’d have more time.

Unfortunately, we didn’t. When she became ill neither of us wanted to admit that we should talk about it.

So, I’m going to tell you a bit about her and hopefully say what she would have wanted you to hear.

She was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana and no other place was ever home for her. She had a quiet, happy childhood that included raising chickens, gardening and delivering newspapers on her bike. Slumber parties, school dances. The stuff one would expect to see on “Leave it to Beaver.”

My beautiful Mom was a graduate of Elmhurst High School, class of 1956, during a more innocent time, when she and her many friends dreamed of marriage, home and children.

After graduation most of her friends married and had the life Mama imagined for herself. An everyday Indiana existence where they would live nearby each other and remain close.

However, God had different plans for her.

Mama met my Dad, Bill Close, at Lincoln Life insurance in Fort Wayne, where she was a secretary. Dad was working a part time job in the mail room while finishing his engineering degree at Indiana Tech. The mutual attraction happened quickly and the daily mail deliveries included love notes. Not a surprise since they were both gorgeous. And my mother was a classic stylish lady in every sense of the word.

No doubt about it, Dad knew that if he played his cards right, he was getting one heck of a catch.

After their marriage on June 29th, 1958, I came along on December 2nd, 1959.

Shortly after I was born Dad began his campaign to move to Florida. During his time in the Air Force, he was stationed in West Palm Beach where he flew MATS planes that ferried troops to various bases around the U.S. He loved the heat and the relentless sun made him feel alive.

Moving back to the frozen north with its bleak winters drove him crazy.

Convincing Mom that the move would be the chance of a lifetime and that she would love it took quite a bit of salesmanship, but she eventually gave in. Dad accepted a job as an aerospace engineer with Honeywell in Clearwater.

The timing couldn’t have been worse. It was in October of 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis which had the world on pins and needles.

And the movers arrived before our house was ready. I look back on that now and marvel that she stuck it out. Many young women who had never been away from their families might have hopped in the car and drove home. My 24-year-old Mama was a brave girl.

While Dad worked on military projects and for many years on the Space Shuttle controllers and pre- launch software, Mama was my anchor. There were times when Dad was facing a deadline and I didn’t see him for days on end. I knew he’d been home because his wash cloth was wet and I could smell Old Spice.

But she was always there.

And she was an amazing cook. She mostly prepared plain old farm style food, baked goods and cookies from scratch using recipes passed down for nearly 100 years. Looking through her a book of scrawled cookie recipes always makes me smile. The yields were massive. Our ancestors had a lot of children and big appetites.

Mama was a part time church secretary for 18 years but only during the hours that I was in school. She was always home when I was.

After Dad retired from Honeywell, my folks moved back to Indiana in the 1990’s to care for my aging grandmothers. A few years later Dad developed COPD and passed away in 2005.

Mom remained in Indiana until 2011 when she grudgingly moved back to Florida. She and I agreed that moving closer to me while she still felt good and could enjoy a life with new friends would be much better than waiting.

She became a member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Largo, Florida, a faithful member of the choir, the ladies’ musical group “Grace Notes” and knitted baby blankets for preemies in area hospitals. When she saw a need, she tried to fill it. She gave to the homeless, to the church food pantry and faithfully tithed.

In so many ways, she was everything I wanted to be. A classy yet approachable loving woman who to the end of her life was still trying to mother me and show kindness to others.

She succumbed to cancer on August 31, 2019. An ugly disease that shatters lives and hearts. A disease that should have been eradicated decades ago and still claims thousands of lives.

Yet a few days before she passed, I had a vision of Dad.

I was about to fall asleep when I saw him lying in the bed next to Mama, cradling her as she labored to breathe. He was so incredibly beautiful. He appeared to be about 30 years old, with smoky wavy dark hair, sparkling green eyes and flawless tanned skin. There is no way to adequately describe how vivid the colors were-if I were to try, I’d never get it right.

He smiled at me but his eyes were sad.

Years ago, before he passed away, Dad made me promise to take care of Mom. She knew little of what it was like to survive outside of her own home. In her old-fashioned world, the man took care of his wife.

For the next 14 years her younger brother Norman and I were there every step of the way. Teaching her how to pump gas, balance her checkbook, who to call when things malfunctioned and basically how to stand up for herself. Dad was no longer there to do it, and she needed to know how to be in charge of her own life. She did her best, and we were there to help.

When she moved to Florida, my hubby Ralph, daughter Julie and I made sure that Mom was surrounded by love and support.

The look in Dad’s eyes during the vision told me that my time of caring for Mama was drawing to a close. I wouldn’t be needed anymore. She would soon be enveloped by the arms of Jesus and be with my Dad forever. She would have a new pain free life, and a body made from the same amazing color palette that my dazzlingly healthy father came from. But it would come at a cost. A daughter would have to part with her beloved Mama when our Creator called her home.

I’m comforted by that vision. When the waves of tears flow from my eyes, I picture her as the lovely young girl who married my Dad. I picture them together, happy at last.

And I’m comforted by knowing without a doubt that someday just as Dad waited for Mom they’ll be waiting for me too.