Maryann and I met when we were 11 years old and upon finding out we both had the same birthdays became forever friends.  We navigated through our Junior/High School years together - kept in touch through our 20 and 30's mostly through phone calls and occasional visits as I was always up and moving!  We even managed to take some family vacations together seemingly always here in North Carolina.  My kids even called her 'Aunt Maryann' because she was always a special person to them.

She was always there for me through good and bad times and was my rock as I went through my cancer treatments.  In the past 10 years we saw alot more of each other as our kids were older we both shared a passion for traveling and took countless trips together almost always to the beaches of North Carolina! We always planned a fun trip in October to celebrate our birthday and more important our long friendship. My favorite trip was to the Florida Keys for our 50th birthday.  We had so much fun!

Maryann was  such a giving and loving person and always was there for anyone and everyone who needed a helping hand.

I  miss her so much but carry all the good memories with me always!

Your missed my friend -  your forever friend- Kathy

To say that my kids loved Maryann just doesn't even come close to their feelings for her. She was my son, Adam's, Godmother. She was so, so loving, so thoughtful and giving. They loved it so much when Aunt MarMar would come to visit. She would always bring them some little gifts .. often a toy that she still had from when Mark Andrew was a little kid. We still call the guest room in our house "Aunt MarMar's Room".

Never was there a mother who loved her son more than Maryann loved Mark Andrew. When he was born, he was a BIG baby. He had a few complications at birth that meant he needed to be in the NICU for a bit. Compared to the other babies in the NICU, he was a giant .... so we called him Bubba. I don't know when or why we stopped calling him that.

He was the center of her life.