This memorial website was created to pay tribute to my Mother and our Loved One. Marie Bank was born on June 3, 1966 in Bronx, New York.
My Mom, at the young age of 18, had her first child,
Crystal, in 1984. Being a young Mom and having a daughter with
cerebral
palsy and special needs wasn’t easy and my Mother remained at home
living with her mom
and
my crazy grandmother.
By the year 1991 my Mother had her 5th
kid, me (Lillian).
5 children oldest to youngest: Crystal, Alexis,
Dominique, Ashley who were all special needs and then there was me!
My Mom, when she got really mad at me, liked to remind me that I was
the baby who was not only premature but that also almost killed her.
She spent 2 months in the hospital after having me. We relocated to
Wisconsin in January of 1999 as my Mother realized that The Bronx, NY
wasn’t a place to raise a family. My Mother never married but spent
over 20 years with my step-dad Paul, aka her "Boo".
My Mom’s favorite food dish was Chicken
Parmesan, and the Antipasti tray where she would rave about the meats
from Cousin Louis. And her new favorite food towards the end was
anything that WASN’T from the nursing facility.
She was OBSESSED with Prince and always
reminisced of the concerts she got to attend with cousin Stacey. I
can still hear her blaring music in the living room/bedroom and me
always saying she should be respectful and lower it. Well, you can
probably imagine how that went. I swear she blew her dang ear drum
because she would
say, “it is lower”. After I received
possession of my Mom's belongings (she was always jotting down
something) I came across a page in her notebook where she wrote down a
list of things to do when she got home (back to Wisconsin).
I want to
share that list with you.
1.Buy a train ticket back home. (My Mother for the past couple
years wanted nothing more than to be home back with her children).
2.Buy cigs- Newports (Anyone else laughing this is number 2 on the
list? Just me?)
3.Buy VIP tickets for Paisley Park
4.Buy Flowers for the fence (at Paisley Park)
5.Find my picture on the fence (at Paisley Park)
6.Whip Domi’s ass (She wrote Pingy next to this; my biological
dad who was staying with my sister and she was NOT happy about it)
7.Get an apartment so I can see my grand kids (She is talking
about pets whom she loves, Tango, Zulu, and Salem) :)
8.Call Social Security-Get my money back
9.Get a new phone
10. Start Over
Mom, you passed away too soon and I wish I would have taken you to
Paisley Park. You annoyed me so much, but that was the ONE thing I
could have given you. I am going to honor your legacy and
wishes by going to Paisley Park for your birthday on June 3rd.
I am going to spend 3 hours on a VIP tour that I won’t really know
much about but I will think about how happy you would have been
throughout the entire tour.
Now a time when things were
much simpler and I remember us all being so happy: Christmas of 2003.
My Mom insisted that she wanted a bunch of Christmas Lights outside
our house. That year she went all out there were Christmas lights in
every room. Decals on every window and Icicle Lights all along the
front of the house. And lights she had placed on the bushes. Now that
I am older and thinking about this…. I think she put indoor lights
on the bushes. Because once she plugged in, we went outside...
looked, everyone then went inside and I took the dogs potty. My
childhood dog Spike ran outside and decided the bush was where he
wished to go. He lifted his leg, started his business, and was
ELECTROCUTED through his pee stream. He never peed on that bush
again. I yelled, "MOM!!!! the lights are out….Never
mind they're back on!" When
she came running to the entrance to check on me outside with the dog
and asked what happened she about died of laughter. That is a story
she reminded me of almost every Christmas. Mom, you are gone way too soon
and will be remembered forever.