Mary Tyler Moore

I was a pre-teen when the Mary Tyler Moore show first came on and I adored her. I wanted to live in Mary Richards' apartment. I wanted her clothes. The single career "gal" was my hero.

And we had our very own Mary Richards in our family. My mother's cousin Carolyn was so glamorous! She was always in full make-up with her hair done. She lived in a funky basement apartment near the hospital where she worked. She wore bolero pants and flashy scarves. My mom, who made her own clothes, never looked as dowdy as she did standing next to her cousin.

Carolyn had a huge personality...loud, boisterous, and energetic. She was devout but certainly not pious. She was forty when she married, and rejoiced in now having a child (even though a teen) to love.

Several years ago, the hospital in which she worked got a new piece of lab equipment and she took a sample of her own blood with which to test the machine. It revealed that she had leukemia. She fought the desease with the vigor and determination everyone expected from her, but last week her fight ended.

Her funeral was not a sad occassion, but a celebration of her life and a rejoicing in the fact that she was in a new home in heaven, surrounded by her loving parents and husband.

My mom will miss her very much, but I will always remember the 70's version with great admiration and affection.