Maureen must have been meant to have quick courtships. :) In December of 97 I think. Chet you can correct me if I got it wrong , but my Mom went on a Christmas and New Years Cruise with her parents and met Chester Mast, who swept her off her feet with many nights of dancing and fun. It was the beginning of a new Season  for my Mom. Chet and Mom married on  April 16 that following Spring.

The one thing I know for sure is that Chet made my Mom incredibly happy. He is a wonderful man who has been there for my sister and I and who I have grown to love and respect. Saying goodbye to my Mom two weeks ago was the hardest thing I have ever done and having Chet and Meg's hand to hold made it bearable.

I am so happy my Mom had 12 incredible. happy, love filled years with Chet and I thank him for loving her.

My Mom divorced my Dad in 1997. Although their marriage ended ,we forever remain a family. My parents set a beautiful example for all of us by remaining friends and doing all they could to always be there for My sister and I and their grandchildren.

I had the good fortune of living near my Mom in South Florida  as I started my own family. Maureen was a great Nana, full of stories and fun,  taking the kids to the Jupiter inlet, to the Loggerhead turtle sanctuary. She took them to Disney World, to Silver Springs, taught them how to swim , hoola hoop, cook , speak Spanish. She could spin a tale like the best storyteller.She loved to pick something, anything , it could be a rock or a picture or a small box, or one of the many things she collected in her travels to South America, Mexico , Guatemala and she would weave a big story around it and entertain my kids for hours.  We used to tell her she  missed her calling.

She was so proud of her grands and they knew it. She never failed to talk about her Guyanese roots and where she came from and did all she could to instill a love of family and tradition. She is  missed already.

My Mom, Maureen quickly jumped into being a wife , mother and nurse. She sadly lost her first baby, a stillborn boy in June of 1964 and quicky became pregnant with me who came into the world on April 13, 1965. I came 6 weeks early and was due in May. She had gone to Boston to buy this beautiful Maternity Easter outfit with hat and gloves. and when she realized she was in labor and going to have me, she decided to wear the maternity outfit to the hospital. Well, lets just say her water broke all over it and she arrived at the Emergency room all dressed up in a Easter hat and all. Yup, My mom did everything in style and everything to the max. 

Soon she blessed me with a sister, Meeghan Elisabeth was born on May 15, 1967. My Mom loved her girls. She dressed us like twins and always instilled in us the importance of family and sisterly love.

My Mom took great pride in making our house a home.She was a beautiful decorator and great cook. She could multitask like the best of them. Getting up early in the morning to clean house so she could got to the pool club we belonged and "sunworship". She was a harlequin romance novel avid reader. She loved to listen to Italian opera music too. She taught CCD, was actively involved in helping  found Birthright. She volunteered at school, was a girl scout cookie mom, supported all my gymnastic, and majorette activities. She followed Meggie to Florida  and to the Cotton  Bowl in  her pageant days

I do not have a single  memory of any milestone from graduations, to weddings to the birth of my children that does not include my Mom. I am forever grateful for that. She taught me how to be a Mom and I love her so much more for that now that I am one.  

My Mom had the good fortune of being lucky in love. Not once, but twice did Cupid hit. More on second time around in another chapter:)

First off in June of 1963 ,Maureen  headed home to Aruba for the wedding of her sister Camille. Due to a problem with Camille's future husband Dick's best man. My Dad, Tom Donahue stepped in as bestman. Guess who was the maid of honor, My Mom , Maureen. Through all the wedding festivities they were thrown together and after the wedding for the next 13 days they dated and on the fourth of July sitting on a dock in Aruba watching the fireworks my dad proposed. She said yes of course.

I have always loved the story of how she told her parents. She asked my grandparents if she could speak to them in private in the bedroom and sitting on their bed she said "Mom, Dad, I am engaged and want to get married." They looked at her with wide very tired eyes(as they had just hosted many days of a beautiful wedding and many parties ) and said "To who?" .....I guess 13 days isnt that long to date :) . but to me the story is very romantic.

They were married 6 months later in St.  Teresa's Church for a Christmas wedding. My Mom wore a beautiful beaded ivory gown from  Saks and the church was filled with red pointsettia's. After the wedding they moved to Somerset , Massachusetts, a quaint New England town that my Dad called home.

On August 13, 1942 my grandmother gave birth to her second daughter, Maureen Anne.  My mom was born in a country called British Guyana which is on the north east coast of South America.  Patricia Camille is my mom's older sister and Helen Regina is the youngest sister.  Mom never minded being the middle child, she often said it meant that she had "love on both sides."

When my mom was 5 she went to live on the Island of Aruba where she spent the rest of her childhood and teenage years.  Aruba is a Dutch island and so the early years of my mom's life she attended Dutch schools.  She was also originally left-handed but switched to right when she entered school.   This switch made my mom have rather distinctive handwriting!

Mom loved to play sports.  She was a cheerleader and basketball player and she also knew from a very early age that she wanted to be a nurse.  For college, Maureen headed to Holy Name Hospital School of Nursing in Teaneck, NJ.