Debroah Speer

Debroah Leanean Speer (Caldwell) was born on September 15, 1951 in Arkansas to Melba and Bill Caldwell. She was the second oldest of 6 children. When she was 5, she moved to Glendale, California where in just a few years she would meet the love of her life, Bill Speer. Their life started a little earlier than anyone anticipated when my Mom was born, but the life and family they were able to build is truly amazing and inspiring. They started a business, my grandma became a pharmacy tech and full time mom to three kids-and if you’ve known the family for long enough, you know what a handful they were. She was a grandmother to 4, a great grandmother to 2, and aunt to many. She loved us all.

How do you sum up the life of a woman who was so many things? She was a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a cousin, a mother, grandmother and a friend. She loved plants, tea parties, Bingo games, parties, family vacations. I’m sure many of us remember her Easter picnics and Cousin Christmases. And, who could ever forget her sweet tea and biscuits and gravy. She loved hard. Maya Angelou wrote “to describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in a perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow”. It is impossible to put into words who she was and how she lived her life. All I can say is that she loved and was loved, and we are better for having her in our life.

I think one of the things that has helped us get through this first month without her has been the fact that she was ready to go. She was ready to not live in pain and be with the so many loved ones who have passed before her. To be with my Grandpa and my Uncle Jeff. The love my grandparents shared was so strong she kept talking about how my grandpa was in the room with her when she was in the hospital.

Once she made the decision to stop any treatment, she fell into a peaceful sleep, only to wake up once more and say “I’m still here? Damn”.

There is no adequate way to express the grief we Speers have felt over the last several years. Sometimes I stop and think of my Grandpa, my Uncle and now my Grandma, taken from us too soon. I ask myself how much more can this family take before it is broken. And, then I think about what they have taught me about family. It is not the people with the same name or the same blood as you. It’s anyone you welcome into your home and your hearts like my Grandma has done with all of you. So thank you for being here, for being family and for sharing in the burden of our grief.

*Written by Granddaughter Alyssa*