❤️She passed peacefully. John, (daughter-in-law)Katie and I were with her the evening before. Her grandchildren, sister, best friend (of 70+ years) and nieces were able to FaceTime to tell her that they love her and share some memories.
🌟 At the time of her passing, John saw an orb like flash and that morning, I felt a wave of tremendous love pass through me....We know she was wrapped in an unbelievable amount of love when family came to collect her and take her home.
❤️ She lived 96 years and packed quite a bit into the time she had on this earth. She lived in an era of innocence and felt pride in sharing stories of the fun and the innocence of her younger years.
🌟She was born in Portland Oregon where she spent her childhood with her younger sister (Aunt Dorothy) and brother (Uncle Charles). She spent her high school years with an Aunt in LA. Eventually, the family moved to San Francisco where she attended SF City College. Her best friend June, remembers the fun they had. The day before she passed, June sent a message remembering that the two met in a sorority, Delta Psi while attending SF City College. June remembered the year that, “Marjorie was Homecoming Queen…all the fraternities were voting for Marjorie and so were we in the Delta Psi sorority voting for our Marjorie!!!” The song for the Homecoming dance was, “Margie”. She did love to dance.
❤️She and her sister, Aunt Dorothy (2 years younger), after hearing about the excitement of living abroad, applied and were accepted into secretarial positions with the U.S. Foreign Service. Their first postings were to Latin American countries. Our Mom’s first assignment was Tegucigalpa, Honduras while her sister was assigned to Lima, Peru. From here, they had various other postings with so many stories to share.
☺️ One fun story….While my Mom was on holiday in Spain, she and a friend ventured into a town on a Sunday. She ended up breaking the heel of her shoe and needed to find a cobbler, Nothing was open as it was Sunday. They asked someone for help and noticed that people started gathering around. My mom’s Spanish wasn’t good but her friend was fluent. She heard the name Marilyn said over and over. Eventually her friend told her to keep quiet and to go along with it….”They think you’re Marilyn Monroe.” - and they did! The Mayor came out and had the cobbler open his shop to fix her heel. They opened the town and she was given the royal treatment. To this day…a town in Spain has a memory of having a visit from Marilyn Monroe……ohhhh the stories these ladies have been able to share!
🌟 She met our Dad while she was on assignment in Singapore....they were married in Singapore. He worked as an International Banker for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC). At this time, she had to leave her job with the Foreign service. She and my Dad took a 9 month Honeymoon. They spent part of their Honeymoon in Scotland where she was able to meet his family.
❤️ After their extended Honeymoon, they settled back in Singapore and not being able to have a paying job outside of the home, she poured herself into volunteer work. In Singapore, their first two children were born. Her first born was here for a day and passed. He was cremated and our Dad flew back to Scotland with him to lay his remains with family who had passed before. When our Dad passed away in 2014, we were able to lay him with the their first child.
🌟 She was able to enjoy her experiences overseas for 25 years. She was a very social human being and loved entertaining…she belonged to various volunteer organizations. The two of them were always getting dressed up to go out for the evening.
❤️I was born in Hong Kong. and as a family we lived in Japan, Germany, Thailand, Hong Kong, Bahrain, Hong Kong until my Dad retired and they moved the family to Pacific Grove, CA. They chose Pacific Grove because her sister and her husband had retired here and (at that time) the weather resembled the weather in Scotland. 😊
🌟Being the social creature that she was, after moving to Pacific Grove she was a member of St. Timothy Lutheran church, a bridge club, the Carmel Symphony and a few other clubs. She had her sister here, made good friends and enjoyed living in this beautiful area. She and our Dad eventually divorced and he moved home to Scotland. She enjoyed her children (daughter-in-law included..😊), grandchildren, nieces, nephews and good friends.
❤️When she entered the nursing home in 2021, we thought having a window bed would be best for her. We thought she’d enjoy looking out at nature. We soon discovered that a bed close to the hallway was actually best because she loved seeing people and staff walk by so she could wave and smile at them.
🌟When I went to her nursing home on the morning she passed, I was greeted with the best hugs and tears from staff working there. The comments I heard were how much they were going to miss her because she was always so happy and grateful. She added a little light to their day. It was difficult knowing that she was in a nursing home but knowing that she was adored, loved and taken care of helped us feel peaceful.
❤️If you’ve made it this far….Thank you...❤️ There is a lot of life that happens in 96 years. I’d made the video when she went into the hospital for a week last September. A doctor said…”Well…she is 95 years old..It may be her time.” In my mind, I thought…..ohhhhh wow….all he sees is a frail 95 year old woman…..He doesn’t see all of the history (herstories) that has/have been created throughout these past 95 years. I made this video to show the staff at the hospital - They seemed to enjoy watching it and when I’d go to visit her, I had some nurses ask me about her life and ask if I’d share the video with them…..gladly!
🌟Thank you all..xx 🌟- We find happiness knowing that she's no longer in a bed in a nursing home and that she's having the biggest, most joyful welcome home party filled with so much love...❤️ You can bet that when we see her in our dreams, she'll be back to looking like her younger, full of life self...❤️🌟🥰
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