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I wanted to have a surprise birthday party for Jill, to celebrate her 50th birthday. I called all of her old friends, and of course first on my list was Maryellen. I had heard all the stories about the close friendship and experiences they had shared throughout the years and really wanted her to come. she of course did, and spent several days reliving the "old times", and making new ones with Jill and I made a new friend. Maryellen was easy to be with and like. I was able to spend quite a long time on the phone with her before her passing, and she had this way of making one feel very special and important in her life. A very unique, creative and kind person. It was easy to see why she was Jill's friend. They were two peas in a pod, and meant to be friends from the beginning. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend the brief period's of time I did with her, and will miss her very much. She was truly a special person.

Love to Pat and Erin,

Craig Lancaster

I’ve started this at least ten times and never could get passed your names. It’s so hard because I don’t think I have the right words. How can words convey what my life was like because of your mom? There were so many things she said and did that help me to endure my childhood and come out the other side a reasonably sane adult. Funny thing was, she most likely didn’t even know at the time how much she helped me. I don’t remember ever having a fight with her or being upset with her. She would always comfort me and soothe away my fears. Your mom gave me two gifts that were my armor and salvation. The gifts were her old radio and record player. With them I could escape into music and dare to dream. Did I dream of being a Rock legend ?? Well no….it was the 60’s (no woman’s lib). I did dream of being the wife of a Rock legend! More than that, the music opened up my imagination and I started writing songs and short stories.
The music and the writing keep me from falling off the edge. Not that I didn’t slip a bit but I caught myself and have keep on moving.
Everyone sees things in a different light. To me, the light that your mom saw was the love she had for both of you. To me, the light your mom saw blended into a rainbow. To me, the light your mom saw was full of expectations. To me, the light your mom saw lead her to look for the good in people. To me, the light your mom is spreads across all who know her and we will always keep her in our hearts. I know she is sending us all White Light.

Auntie Kat

Maryellen and I shared a double bed most of our growing-up years. This story took place very early...Arcadia, CA...ceria 1950. Our mother had just scared us by telling us about two little girls who had been kidnapped from their beds and killed. This was shortly after a Christmas where we had received a metal baton from our paternal grandparents.

Okay, so if anyone has been having trouble uploading images, you should be able to do so now. We need more photos of Maryellen and her pets. Go to Create Content and then click on the Image link. This will also create a thumbnail image for each picture, and the thumbnail will go into the pool for the Image of the Moment there on the left.

Edit: Obviously, as of about March 1, 2010, the image gallery has gone South. Lost it during a software upgrade, and haven't been able to fully recover it. It looks like the upgrade deleted the images folder, as well as the backup, so we need to re-upload all of them. My apologies to everyone, especially to my Aunt Kat who contributed more than half of the images.

We all know that Maryellen loved animals, and that she was interested in the work of the ASPCA. I've set up a fund raising memorial page for her at the ASPCA website. I've set a modest goal of $200. Wouldn't it be a blast if we could raise that much in her name? The link is http://www2.aspca.org/goto/ourmaryellen.