August 13, 1933 – May 1, 2020
Rose, or “Roie” as she was known to her beloved grandchildren and family, friends and even strangers, lived life on her own terms. Raised as an only child until her sister joined her sixteen years later, she brought six of us into the world and introduced us to imagination and possibility. She was stubborn, charismatic, lovable, and fiercely loyal, loving dark chocolate and licorice just slightly less passionately than us. Add in bar-b-que and shrimp with drawn butter and fresh bread with a cold coke and she would never miss a vegetable unless it came fried with a bit of okra. I’d say we lost her on Friday, but the reality is, we’ll never lose the love she passed on to us. We will always hear that incredible laugh, a sound that was just hers, one we heard often in our journeys with her. We will miss having her here with us terribly. So, Mom, when we witness the contours in the skies above us, we’ll think of you with Dad, both of you now traveling the Universe together. The laughter we hear will ease the ache we’ll always feel until we join you en route. Travel well. This time you don’t need to find a place that will take six kids and multiple dogs (and a few pregnant cats).
Mom was preceded in death by her sister Wendy Gray, her husband Tad Eugene Sizemore, her mother and father, Virginia and Fred Gray, her beloved Aunts Lillian Mays and Shirley Brouard. She leaves the six of us, Kim (Mary), Jill (Jen), Tracey (Darrell), Kelly, Bryan and Chris and her beloved grandchildren, Matt Man (Andrea), Scottie (Kelsey), Zach Man, Shelby, Lola, Reagan, Sarah and five great-grandchildren Mila, Nora, Eli, Jude and Lincoln. Her wonderful cousins Sandy, Scott and Laura Brouard became ours and the additional contributors are pretty awesome, too, like Stephanie Sizemore who helped bring in the first granddaughters, and her loving caregiver Iva Hurley, who kept Mom amply supplied with her favorite powdered donuts and much love. This crowd of folks already misses you terribly, partly because we wish we could witness your joy right now. But then again, loving you was the joy you gave back to us. So thank you, Mom. You go on now. We’ll know that you’ll always leave the light on for us to find our way back, back to the love that raised us, back to the love that will find its way home.
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