My Mom, Charmaine, was a whimsical person with a bright, youthful personality and love of mermaids, unicorns, "Coyote", kaleidoscopes, Shih Tzu dogs and the color Orange. She was also highly intellectual -- a perpetual student reaching all higher education goals, despite numerous obstacles, health and otherwise. By the time of her untimely passing, she held 3 graduate degrees -- 2 Masters (Folklore from UCLA and Mythology from Pacifica Institute) and a PhD (Mythological Studies from Pacifica Institute) -- as far as I know (and am open to correction on the finer details herein). She was very well-versed in such unusual subjects as Shamanic ritual, voudou (the correct spelling per her), international folklore and even garage sales (the subject of her first Masters Thesis). One of my favorite memories of her during my childhood was of the amazing Halloween costumes she used to make us. In particular, I remember when I was Snow White and my sister Adie was Rose Red. They were extremely fancy well-made gowns that she would sew meticulously and I so looked forward to those times. Then there was our dress-up hamper -- a huge space that housed all her more interesting old clothes and other things for us to just put on and pretend in. She was extremely creative and encouraged our own creativity as well -- purchasing for years a "craft kit" for us to have fun with. A couple times a year it would arrive, stuffed with everything from feathers to glitter to resin and pieces of fabric and more. We never knew what it would contain the and creative possibilities it afforded were endless. I was recently reminded by friends of a funny moment with her in a record shop. We were hearing David Bowie for the first time (I was around 11), and she started dancing right in the middle of the store with no inhibitions. She often embarrassed me as she lived life so freely and I remember being mortified at that time but now it's one of my favorite memories. As I grew older, she would lend support as a Mother when she could, but I was raised from the age of 9 by my Step-Mother, Marcia, and Charmaine always showed Marcia so much appreciation -- sending her flowers and gifts and notes of thanks every Mother's Day if not more often. That same appreciation was shown to friends who took care of me when I was dealing with cancer treatment -- she always remembered to say Thank you. When I was finishing my years at UCLA, my Mom decided to go back to school to finish her undergraduate degree there, too. I was horrified at first, but it turned out that I needed a roommate and she needed a place to live and we lived in an apartment along with an Italian student for a few months. I laid down the law, "you're here as my roommate, not my Mother" and it was one of the best times in our relationship. She completely respected my boundaries and freedom as a young adult, but was there when/if I needed her. All my friends thought she was incredibly cool. Her far out of date clothes had come back into style and she was friendly to everyone. I look back so fondly on that time. She successfully finished her undergrad work (I have the photo of her graduation somewhere...) and went on to do her first Masters. When I was at a turning point in my life, she helped me to decide to be a Hypnotherapist and put me through school. She was extremely thoughtful and loving and adored me and my sister, Adie, so very much. I hope she can feel how much we are missing her -- I KNOW she knows how much we loved her (and always will).