In Memory of My Dear Friend Mary Hsia / Mary Frances Hsia
I see the Mary I knew as happy and serene, in tune with her life as a whole, so that every moment came untroubled and full of interest for her. She enjoyed the wind, the sea, the earth and the sky without any worries; the elements were not forced upon her, but they shared their space with her. She loved to explore, go new places, and see things through her magical glasses, which expanded and enlightened the simplest of things; flowers became more colorful, sand became more sparkly, ripples in water became shinier, and sounds became more musical.
She was wonderful at giving – it made her happy to share her found treasures. And any gift she received was treasured, because she knew it came from the heart. (Over the years I gave her many, many tuba figurines, as she was my younger son’s tuba mentor).
We became friends 43 years ago and had ever so many wonderful adventures together over the ensuing years. Some of those adventures are represented in photos in this memorial.
There are many pictures in this memorial of Mary taken in the early 1970’s on “The Terrace” – a small street on a hill in Silverlake, Los Angeles, California called Ivan Hill Terrace. Our mutual friends in those golden days were Susan Roberts and Richard Cantu, who later married the lovely Alyce. We remained friends in the ensuing years.
Mary loved dogs and cats, as I did, and over the years, we both had many – Ed being her last sweet dog who now resides contentedly with Richard and Alyce Cantu back on “The Terrace.”
When Mary called me and told me that she was dying, without hesitation I told her I would be there in two days. My wonderful husband, Larry, (Mary was my maid of honor at our wedding), made reservations for a two week trip.
Once I got there, I realized Mary wanted and needed me to stay on. There was no way of knowing how long she would linger. I found that we soon had settled into a feeling of well-being with each other and I knew then I should remain indefinitely to comfort her.
Our best hours were evenings; we would watch movies and talk, while I knitted scarves. She was so incredibly knowledgeable on so many subjects; it was good to hear her talk about things that interested both of us – history, current events, music, and we would slip into conversations about “the good old days.”
I kept busy caring for Mary for two months. We finally agreed that I should talk Larry into coming for a brief visit. He agreed to come for five days and flew in on Wednesday evening. That coincided when Hospice agreed to have a full-time nurse with Mary and Mary’s sister Lynn, a nurse, decided to move in as well. That day there were four other nurses from Hospice in the house.
Knowing how crowds (more than one or two people) made Mary nervous at this stage of her