This virtual memorial was made for our dearest Carmen,
who passed away unexpectedly, at her home in Southern California,
She was at her bed, surrounded by the cats she loved, and with her husband,
Horacio, who cared for her, until the very end.
We shall remember you always, in our hearts and in our minds.
May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
Cómo te extrañaremos.
who passed away unexpectedly, at her home in Southern California,
She was at her bed, surrounded by the cats she loved, and with her husband,
Horacio, who cared for her, until the very end.
We shall remember you always, in our hearts and in our minds.
May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
Cómo te extrañaremos.
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It happened in Monterrey, a long time ago ...
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Carmen Maria Del Tovias
but to me, always my mother. Carmen Maria Cook
Mom's Eightieth birthday
mother / daughter rivalry from the start. Christina and little Carmen
a stunning exotic beauty...
High School sweethearts
The Cooks, at Fort Wayne: Roy, Roberta, Paul, Joyce, Robert, Nellie, Celia
Recent stories
"(Chinese) Food is Love"
We all know what Chinese food is... right? With it's bean sprouts, water chestnuts, and fortune cookies. Szechuan, Mandarin, or Cantonese, with number 6, you get egg roll.
Especially us, in Southern California, where our food is a cornucopia of different counries, and different cultures....all very authentic, where each cuisine, found at nearly every corner of the county (of Los Angeles), is made exactly like the province or state it comes from.
We are all spoiled here, for the good food from home.
I was spoiled, too.. for the good food my mother made, in our home.
For example. My mother would make a dish, she simply called "Chinese Food". It was ground beef, green beans, chopped onions, mushrooms and brown gravy, over a bed of white rice. A bottle of soy sauce was placed on the table, for affect.
But it was the way she cooked it.... that made it so good. I could never duplicate it. There must have been secret ingredients, I don't know about, I had 5 servings, every time we had it. I ate everyone under the table, when I was a boy.
Thinking about the many wonderful dishes she made, I imagine, she was taught, by my mid-western Grandmother, how to run a household, when she married my father, back in Fort Wayne. She was a young bride, and the family there must have embraced her, and showed her everything they knew.
I am sure, they had few Chinese restaurants in Michigan, and Indiana, in 1959, so they made due.... with green beans replacing bean sprouts, and other tricks, to add variety, spice, and flavor, to kinds of dishes unavailable to them.
I can just see my young mother, in the kitchen, with my grandmother, showing her how to make chicken and dumplings.
My mother did the same thing.... making "Chilaquiles". All they were, were crisped tortillias, fried with scrambled eggs. But they were so good. And you never knew how she did it.
This... and a thousand other things, I will miss..... about my mother.
--- Paul Allen Cook "Pablito", March 17, 2019
All Good things must come to an end - Geoffrey Chaucer
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"Henrietta and Georgina"
It was September 11th, 2001. Mom was babysitting a large gentle dog (named Diablo), that Michelle owned, while she traveled to Indonesia, to get objects d'art for her store. Mom kept Diablo on the large loft, next to her laundry room, where she kept 2 chickens, Henrietta, and Georgina. Mom had a big heart, and loved to keep those 2 chickens as pets, rather than see them on the dinner table. They were sweet, and friendly. The minute you went into the laundry room, they would come close to you, and stare at you.
Somehow, the dog got access to the laundry room, and began chasing the chickens, wanting to play. The chickens panicked, and fluttered wildly. They were half dead, when Mom discovered them in the laundry room, after about midnight.
She called me crying.... "Paul, I have an emergency, Can you find an all night vet, and take me there.--- right now?". She had each chicken wrapped in a towel, comforting them ever so carefully. I knew they were goners, they could not even keep their little heads up... they were dangling down, but their eyes were still open, and they were cooing.
I found an all night vet in Irvine, and we jumped in the car, and drove there. It took hours to get there, find a sympathetic veterinarian to help us, and to admit them, while he told my mother that there was little he could do to save them. Still, my mother insisted he treat them, the best he could, and to update us, when we got home. That vet was very nice to my mother. Of course he was. I was there, to make sure.
We got back home to Long Beach by 4:30 am. Mom was still worried. I told her, "Mom, at least they had someone to comfort them, I'm sure that if they die, they'll die happy". I went to my apartment, down the hall, and went to bed. I knew mom could not sleep. I heard activity from her apartment. She probably had her TV on, and was doing housework, until she got sleepy herself.
I was awaken an hour later, by her calling me on the phone..."Paul, the vet called. He said Henrietta and Georgina died peacefully, without any pain". I said "Oh, Mom, I'm so sorry". Then she told me to turn on my TV, and look at what is happening, World War Three has begun. I said, "What?" I turned on my TV in my bedroom. I saw the New York skyline, and the Twin Towers. It was daylight in New York.
Then I saw a jet plane, deliberately hit one of the towers. It was surreal. Was I watching a movie? But from the commentary by the newscasters, I knew. I knew with a sickening certainty, that it was all too real.
I had turned on the TV, in time to catch the second plane, hit the other tower. My mother was right. It was World War III. Or so it seemed. They say war is hell. Well, what I witnessed, was hell on earth, that morning. To see it, was the worst day of my life. First, my mother's heart was broken, by her chickens dying. And then, the most heinous, and tragic event America ever experienced, occurs.
I thank God that I was with my mother, when those things happened, and I am very glad to have been by her side, during that terrible day.
--- Paul Allen Cook "Pablito", September 23rd, 2019
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
-Don McLean, American Pie
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Somehow, the dog got access to the laundry room, and began chasing the chickens, wanting to play. The chickens panicked, and fluttered wildly. They were half dead, when Mom discovered them in the laundry room, after about midnight.
She called me crying.... "Paul, I have an emergency, Can you find an all night vet, and take me there.--- right now?". She had each chicken wrapped in a towel, comforting them ever so carefully. I knew they were goners, they could not even keep their little heads up... they were dangling down, but their eyes were still open, and they were cooing.
I found an all night vet in Irvine, and we jumped in the car, and drove there. It took hours to get there, find a sympathetic veterinarian to help us, and to admit them, while he told my mother that there was little he could do to save them. Still, my mother insisted he treat them, the best he could, and to update us, when we got home. That vet was very nice to my mother. Of course he was. I was there, to make sure.
We got back home to Long Beach by 4:30 am. Mom was still worried. I told her, "Mom, at least they had someone to comfort them, I'm sure that if they die, they'll die happy". I went to my apartment, down the hall, and went to bed. I knew mom could not sleep. I heard activity from her apartment. She probably had her TV on, and was doing housework, until she got sleepy herself.
I was awaken an hour later, by her calling me on the phone..."Paul, the vet called. He said Henrietta and Georgina died peacefully, without any pain". I said "Oh, Mom, I'm so sorry". Then she told me to turn on my TV, and look at what is happening, World War Three has begun. I said, "What?" I turned on my TV in my bedroom. I saw the New York skyline, and the Twin Towers. It was daylight in New York.
Then I saw a jet plane, deliberately hit one of the towers. It was surreal. Was I watching a movie? But from the commentary by the newscasters, I knew. I knew with a sickening certainty, that it was all too real.
I had turned on the TV, in time to catch the second plane, hit the other tower. My mother was right. It was World War III. Or so it seemed. They say war is hell. Well, what I witnessed, was hell on earth, that morning. To see it, was the worst day of my life. First, my mother's heart was broken, by her chickens dying. And then, the most heinous, and tragic event America ever experienced, occurs.
I thank God that I was with my mother, when those things happened, and I am very glad to have been by her side, during that terrible day.
--- Paul Allen Cook "Pablito", September 23rd, 2019
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
-Don McLean, American Pie
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