As some of you may already know via my facebook post, my mother Gloria passed away last month from complications due to an advanced stage of Parkinson's disease.

I apologize to those who are reading this for the first time as I have been remiss in not notifying all of you sooner. My emotional wear-with-all has been tested to the limits accompanied by the administrative duties that one has to do in these circumstances. I have been taking things day by day which is the best I can do at the present time.

For those of you who didn't know my mother I can tell you that she was one of the most spirited women you might ever come across. She had a zest for life, loved people and parties and her house was her showplace. Her and my Dad spent most of their married life blissfully engaged in various house projects and decorating. My mother was very gifted in all things DIY. She could paint, sew, hang wall paper and had the patience for almost anything else she needed to learn. My Dad would dutifully follow her lead and embark on some new project, more out of love than sheer interest. I can still hear her voice telling him "Dick ... get off that couch ... not every football game is a big one and make yourself useful. You don't want to get OLD."

My mother was the child of two Scandinavian immigrants and was born in Long Beach, California. Growing up she had a taste for fashion and flare which somewhat befuddled her simple and mild mannered parents. Nevertheless, my grandmother indulged her with beautiful hand made clothes ( my grandmother was a wonderful seamstress) and helped hostess a countless number of luaus in their backyard. Hawaii was all the rage in the 50's. Party at Gloria's was the place one wanted to be.

My mother finished high school and became a dental assistant. She interviewed at the office of Dr. Ronald Roth, DDS. He was a dashing older man, some significant years her senior, and she did not get the job. She did, however, get asked out on a date. They married and had me. He died the day after I was born from a sudden heart attack. I never knew him. 

A few years after Dr. Roth died my mom crossed paths with Dick Coleman, a police officer whom she had met years before, when she was dating his police partner Frank. They resumed their friendship and then a romance and a marriage. Dick was the best step father a girl could have. He was such a good man. They were the happiest married couple that I knew and oftentimes the ONLY happy married couple that I knew! They loved to laugh and enjoyed half gallons of ice cream together ( usually one between them, two spoons, watching TV in bed).

Mom and Dick travelled the world and had fun adventures. They have books and books of pictures of their travels that I will treasure forever.

My mom instilled in me various qualities: tenacity, a sense of levity, a get down to business spirit . She taught me the love of food, travel and laughter. She passed onto me a warm heart and a sharp tongue and a wicked sense of humor. She was charming and affable and well liked by people who knew her.

Truth be told, my mother and I did not always see "eye to eye' and we had our differences over the years. Yet, not a day went by that I didn't love her and I told her this many times as she was nearing the end of her life. We spent good quality time together in the last year and I am thankful for that.

On the day she died, I just had a feeling that she was not doing well so I got off early from work and headed to her house. When I arrived she had started to go into respiratory distress. I stood at her bedside for the next several hours rubbing her forehead gently and stroking her hair. I told her that it was okay to go and that she had taught me everything I needed to thrive in this world and I would be fine. I told her that she would be seeing Dick and my grandparents and my dog Gomez in Heaven and she would be young again and in perfect health. I told her I loved her and to "save a place for me". She died peacefully in her own home, just the way she wanted it.

Thank you to all of you who shared a bit of her life.

Cressida Lynn Roth