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Mary Ann Clement Tribute

Mary Ann Clement Online Memorial

Memories of Mary Ann Clement

My memory

ruthk Aug 20, 2011

I thought of you while I watched Loretta making a video of the beautiful waterfall she made in Hanson. I didn't tell Loretta, but I thought of how she chose a spot that you particularly liked - how you would have loved it and perhaps added a touch of your own to it - how Loretta would have asked you, the artist, had you been there, what she might do with the collection of shells she wanted to add. She did ask me but I know I do not have that flair that you had.. I think Loretta has created a beautiful living memorial to her sister, and, as her sister Mary Ann would do, Loretta will always be making changes to it, adding to it, taking away, adjusting, so that each time I visit Hanson, I will check to see what's different, as I always did when I visited you in Florida.. Today we are going to Hanson for the annual lambroast and you will be there with us.

Beginning of the 4th year of missing you

lorettaf Jun 21, 2011

Hi, yesterday, you have been gone for three years and I still miss you. I'm building a waterfall for you in Hanson. Hope you like it when it's done. I am still keeping up with the two new friends you gave me, Karen and Lindi. I'm going to try to get to Ohio this fall and stay at George's. I am now the oldest person in our family!!!

Happy Birthday, Mary Ann

lorettaf Apr 18, 2011

Here it is again, already almost three years since I last saw you and since you "danced" on the earth. Part of you now rests with Zaphod Vivian Whiskers Aztecs who recently died peacefully. I still miss you. It's funny I only saw you a few times a year, but just knowing you were there and talking on the phone was sufficient. Now there is just a hollow hole where you were. Enough whining. I do need you here to help with TWO gardens, it's a bit much. I guess I have to give up on heathers in the front yard, they keep dying every winter. Have to go to flowers, any suggestions? I hope you will come with me to the gardening center to pick out stuff. <br /><br />
<br /><br />
I guess you know both Aunt Sophie and Aunt Kay died in 2010. Now I'm the oldest in the family. Hummmm. George got married to a woman named Paula. She is really nice. Well, that's all the news from Lake Wobegon, no, I mean Somerville. Miss you terribly, talk to you soon.

Florida and Shells

ruthk Mar 03, 2011

Hi Mary Ann, While I walked along the Naples beach over a week ago, you were with me again, and as I looked at the pretty seashells gently washed ashore that day, I wondered which ones would Mary Ann choose? While I would not for a moment ever think that I could ever see things through your discerning eyes, I did choose three shells which I thought you might like, and I will put them in Westport, next to your lavender, with the other shells that I have gathered for you. Alas, though, no shark's teeth. As I discovered early on while walking the beach with you in Nokomis, a shark's tooth would have had to jump up and bite me on the nose to be noticed by me, while you would spot it a mile away!

Yesterday I came across a valentine, with a beautiful letter enclosed, that you (& Anna!) had sent me in March 2008, only months before you left us. When I read it again, I remembered my thoughts the first time I read it three years ago: what fortitude it must have taken for you to write that letter; the effort and energy expended to distract yourself from your relentless pain. I marveled then and I marveled yesterday at what an example you set for us all with our little daily gripes.

A belated 2011 Happy Valentine to you, Mary Ann, sent with lots of love.
Ruth

Second Anniversary

lorettaf Jun 19, 2010

Well, it's been two years since I last saw you. I still miss you. I put one of your (our) favorite songs on here today. Seems two of your friends have become mine--Karen and Lindi. Karen is doing well. Sold her house and is looking for a man. Here's some calla lillies for you. Off to Alaska. I'll be taking you with me.

Happy Birthday

lorettaf Apr 18, 2010

Well, this is your second birthday without pain. I hope you enjoyed your second trip to South Africa and the Kalahari. Lots of death and new life going on there. I imagine you really enjoyed Soweto and the Cradle of Humankind. You will be doing a lot of traveling this year. In June we go back to Joe's and then off to Alaska--Joanne's, Juneau, Skagway, and up to the Yukon.

I hope you enjoy the cake we made for you. We will! Nonetheless we miss you. You have left a hole in the world when you died.

ruthk (Apr 18, 2010)

It's Ruth again. I think it must be your 62nd birthday, although I think of you as you were when we lost you.

ruthk (Apr 18, 2010)

Wherever you are Mary Ann, your sisters are thinking of you today on your 60th birthday. This year you’ve already been to So. Africa with your sister Loretta, and you were with this sister in Mexico, just a few miles from the Yucatan coast where you visited several years ago. I thought of you there and how much you loved it, and I thought of how much more I would have seen if I were looking at the wonderful sites through your eyes. You will be with us later this week when your sisters Karen, Loretta, and me have another of our Girls’ Night Out. I remember the first of these dinners when we asked the waiter to take a picture of the three of us raising our glasses in a toast to you while you were in Florida, and suffering. This Thursday night we will raise our glasses to you again to wish you a Happy Birthday, but as Loretta said, this will be your second birthday without pain. We miss you so much.

Christmas Eve

lorettaf Dec 24, 2009

Hi Mary Ann, I am doing the typical Christmas Eve. It's hard doing it without you here. I feel like stopping it, but then Everything will be gone, so I'll go on. There's a place set at the table for you. We have 15 people this year. Will give you some perogi, caviar, and fish. We have rum balls, kolach (nut and poppy seed) and the cream cheese tartlets. Give hugs to mom and dad.

Still remembering

lorettaf Sep 29, 2009

Hi there. Still thinking about you. Trying to carry on the tradition.

At the beach

ruthk Sep 21, 2009

A week ago today, Loretta and I and my daughter Devon went to the East Beach in Westport with some of Mary Ann's ashes, which Loretta had kindly given me, and each of us released a little handful into the breeze that blew over the ocean. It was a beautiful fall day, just like the day Mary Ann and I took Anna for a walk there a few years ago, and like the day a year later when Mary Ann gathered a few flat roundish stones from the beach to take with her. She was very particular that day choosing the stones and matching them to each other to decide which stones were worthy of being carried back and stacked like a little monument in Loretta's front yard in Somerville. So I thought a little part of her belonged in Westport, with me, at the East Beach.

Princess Roses for Mary Ann

marinababy48 Jun 23, 2009

I had the privilege of seeing Loretta, Ruth and Anya while they visited Aunt Sophie here in Ohio in May. Loretta was so gracious to give me some of Mary Ann's ashes to sprinkle where I wished. I went to our beautiful local "Green Cathredal", Mill Creek Park, to find the perfect spot in the Fellows Riverside Garden. Upon my return there this Sunday, beautiful tea roses were blooming in "Mary Ann's spot". I had no idea of what kind of rose was planted there until I read the sign, Princess Diana roses. Princess roses for Mary Ann, the princess who appreciated the beauty of all things, large and small. It's like another gift from her. Lindi

lorettaf (Jul 06, 2009)

Lindi, how wonderful that you are keeping an eye on how Mary Ann is doing with the roses and that they are thriving with her help.

My Memory of Aunt Mary Ann

alexandrac Jun 20, 2009

Even though I was quite young when Mary Ann had her farm house, I still remember visits there - especially around Christmas. She would always decorate with a thousand little santas, and I distinctly remember the yummy smell of gingerbread men! As I got older, Mary Ann moved away from the Cape but sent me post cards and gifts from the places she had been. My favorite was a tiny sterling silver and turquoise ring that fit perfectly on my little finger. I took a wonderful trip with my mom to visit her in Flordia when I was in high school, and I remember how much work she had already put into it - but of course she said she wasn't nearly finished!
These are just a few of the memories I have of Mary Ann, but it is how I remember her - caring, thoughtful, and constantly creating. She is missed!

lorettaf (Jun 21, 2009)

Hi Alex, I'm glad you stopped by. Your mom said you might. I know MA had a special place in her heart for you.

Gifts from Mary Ann

marinababy48 Jun 19, 2009

Today one the one year anniversary of her passing, I reflected on the many gifts she has given me throughout the yrs, both the material and the spiritual. She built me up with her joy, laughter, unique sense of humor, intellectual curiosity and kindness. We exchanged many gifts throughout the years. She had such a precise insight into the things I liked. I appreciated artsy stuff just like her. So, she always chose gifts with attention to little details. Not just today, do I reflect on MA , but everyday, I 'm reminded of her as see the many gifts she gave me that are hanging on my walls, sitting on my dresser, etc. Her thoughtfulness was especially evident in the one particular gift she made for me. It's a little crown crafted out of hearts with ribbon streamers. Most touching was the the note with it that said "every castle needs a queen and every queen needs crown. " I cried at the beauty of those words expressed toward me. Only someone like her with an queenly attitude could express such a tender sentiment. I miss her.

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JPresutti

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Visited Apr 24, 2011

ruthk

Massachusetts United States

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lorettaf

    somerville, Massachusetts, United States

    Visited Apr 20, 2011