maestrateresa anecdotes?

[klwilliams]

I'll be doing a eulogy tomorrow at the funeral, and I'm having a hard time thinking, so I'm turning to the group mind. What are your favorite memories of Teresa? Please let me know.

Comments

[skachick-101.livejournal.com]

I don't necessarily have anecdotes, but these are some of the things that I treasure about Teresa:

Her smile.
Her ability to be happy and laugh things off that would make others cry.
Her enthusiasm for her summer job.
Her excitement about experiencing NY, even when it wasn't all peachy keen.
Her love for her children. When she talked about them it was so clear how much she loves them and was so proud of them.
Her love for her friends. She was a gift. That rare person that always has a smile for you and is interested in who you are.

[rustmon.livejournal.com]

Well, there was the time at your time at your house when I offered to give Mike 2 sticks...

[helblonde.livejournal.com]

I'm having trouble just coming up with a quick remembrance to share myself.

She had a wicked sense of humor. Her last post in my LJ was a response to telling Noah that he could kiss the bears "but no tongues". Her response "I knew I loved you for a reason".

I loved how she reached out and pulled as much life and happiness into every moment. Cage dance at the heaven n hell party? Heck, yeah. Snag the drink umbrellas for hair accessories? Of course.

[bdenz.livejournal.com]

Her quick, sharp wit. Definitely.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

I'm going to jump in on the "wicked sense of humor" bandwagon. I know that there's a desire to remember our friends in glowing terms, but sometimes I can have a hard time recognizing the Teresa I knew in some of the almost syrupy descriptions I've read. Teresa was the sort of person you wanted to trade snarky comments with at the back of court. She had a streak of no-nonsense a mile wide ... which is why you could feel completely comfortable discussing her health issues with her.

I've got a bit of a weird favorite memory, though. It was an event that we both happened to be at (I'm going to be extremely vague deliberately.) I was having a brief episode of "all my so-called friends are too busy to talk to me, I might as well not be here, why do I bother" but I noticed that there was space at the table where Teresa was sitting and I gave myself a little mental "snap out of it" kick and went over to sit with her. And because I've made some personal resolutions about being honest with myself about these little episodes and neither denying nor indulging them, I told Teresa about what I'd just been feeling (and how I'd been Working On It). She gave me this somewhat weird look and said, "Me too." It evolved into an Interesting Conversation. (Yes, I'm being vague again.) A useful reminder to me of various things I need to remember.

Hard time choosing, bad and good.

[learnteach.livejournal.com]

Wow. So many years.

...her asking me why I compartmentalize my friends, which led to an ongoing conversation about activities and types of friends.

...her and my mother getting technical on various health issues, enough to make me flee, and then them laughing at my squeamishness.

...her sewing Trouble and bringing it to early Crosston events. From that tiny cluttered living room.

...her blooming joy when I told her how well Morgan did at the war.

...telling her about ill-will press (foamy the squirrel). Sharing many media obsessions with her.

...her stint as the Blue Fairy. "La la la, I'm invisible!" dancing around in the woods...

[sfmarty.livejournal.com]

Skachick 101 said it for me. That smile, which was always easy and ready, a gift.

[catagon3.livejournal.com]

Remember how we first tried to get singing off the ground meeting at your house (by the Brass Rail!) I don't remember when Teresa started singing with us, but she had a bit of trouble at first. Then somehow we figured out she was a Tenor, not an Alto and things were much better! I remember her singing at my wedding and in the West Kingdom Choir, holding down the ovarian tenor section.

Where to start?

[fionnbharro.livejournal.com]

Every summer -- usually August -- she would come over to our place and share a 'Seafood Extravaganza' with us.

It's our one legitimate excuse to have lobster ("we have a guest!"), and to try new ways of cooking said lobster. She brought butter ramekins last time.

The BBQ lobster, BTW, was very good.

Re: Where to start?

[fionnbharro.livejournal.com]

And then there was the time at Niagara Falls with her sister and niece....

.... Wading in Lake Erie, and seeing her reaction -- learning that a body of water that large could be *warm* (Unlike the Ocean).

.... Saw Duran Duran with her, the Understanding Spouse, and Older Girlchild when the band came to San Jose in 2005. (Older Boychild was at School-sponsored science camp, so we had this extra ticket, see.)

.... Lots of advice. Especially about child-rearing. And dealing with obnoxious ex-spouses.

.... Many many late-night / early-morning e-mails because neither of us sleep between 2 and 3 AM.

....

....

[callistotoni.livejournal.com]

I only got close to Teresa after she came back from OR, so I don't have as many years to draw on. But I remember her, along with a bunch of other people at Juana's bachlorette party, squeezing into the "clown car limo". (I don't clearly remember, but there was 10-15 of us crammed into a taxi limo that took us from Beach Blanket Babylon to the Tonga Room. Much laughter.

Going to Dickens Faire with Teresa and Ariel and giggling at how Popular Ariel was with the male staff of the Faire. We decided that this was the best way to attend the Faire. :-)

Like others have said, Teresa had a razor wit, and could be *very* snarky. But she knew I don't like snarki-ness (unless I'm super provoked) so she tended not to go there around me. She did like word play and puns -- I think it was a way she could show off (we all have our own ways of showing off, mind you). Too often I played the straight man and didn't get the joke until several beats later.

And I'll always remember she, along with Marguerite, came and spent the day with me the day all my 12th Night stuff was stolen. We went to Hobees, walked around Livermore, and then I made them watch Princess Carabou.

I forgot -- The Death of Rats!

[callistotoni.livejournal.com]

Teresa made one of my most prize possessions: My Death of Rats Xmas tree topper! I told her that I always wanted one after reading Hogfather, and that Xmas/B-day she made me one out of that plastic clay. The rat skull is very impressive (unfortunately the hood covers a lot of it. :-/ ).

[scotica.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't know if this will help at all with a eulogy, but for what it's worth:

More than once (which is a lot, considering the relatively small number of times she and I were together since the relevant events... although perhaps not if we consider my circumstances in the last year and hers in the last few months), Teresa mentioned that one of her breasts was known as (and I'm paraphrasing here, because I can't recall her exact words) the breast of truth and the other was the breast of deceit. There has to be a story behind that, and from what she said it sounded like there was more to it than just one of them being entirely man-made...

I only know what I read in the recent discussion of "Display of Religious Themed Artifacts" on the SCA-West list, but I expect there are interesting details for the moment that Teresa's friends started referring to her as the Patron Saint of Replacement Parts, and calling their camping group the Company of St. Teresa.

As for my personal memories, limited though they are, I think my favorite is the day you, Teresa, and I went to Hobee's for brunch. I recall with special fondness Teresa telling you to cover your ears so she and I could talk radiation burns (and Teresa not covering her ears when you and I indulged in excessive Mount Holyoke geeking), and the two of you dragging me off to a (very enjoyable) birthday party for someone I had never met, and the silliness in the store on the way there.

[punkmom.livejournal.com]

Ok, a boob story then...

When Ruth was tiny, and still nursing, we were having dinner with Teresa, and Sandi was telling a story about having to stop somewhere on 280 N because Ruth wouldn't stop crying so we stopped so Ruth could nurse. Teresa looked at Sandi and said, "Why didn't you just lean over and nurse her in the car, that's what I did with Ariel". Sandi looked up and up and up at Teresa for a moment or two, and then they both started laughing hysterically. Sandi is barely 5 feet tall, and Teresa was nearly 6 feet tall.


Teresa and I also shared a vicious hatred of Group Projects. Since we both returned to school as adults we got to share our irritation with the young, and share in the joy of making straight A's.

I was one of her favorite ER dates. I remember her calling one night about midnight and saying in a very calm voice, "I'm coughing up blood so if you could see your way clear to take me to the hospital that would be really great." I also remember Tony being really mad that someone could be so calm about a medical crisis.

[broider-barones.livejournal.com]

I don't recognize the "syrup" sweet comments about Teresa, although her comments could be"nice" (or snarky). However, my feeling is that she did "win" -- sometimes the "race" you are running is not the one everyone else sees - -hers was about living life to the fullest and overcoming obstacles. She did in it spades and was able to see how well she was doing. Bravo Teresa!

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