miss you girl.. hoping you are resting peacefully and not seeing the world as it has become so ugly,

oh Marsha... so many years we didn't see each other.. I will never forget your kindness and warmth.. and all of the awesome times that we had together !!!  I hope that you are in a better place with loving angels to keep you warm... 

(Part 2) Marsha was so much fun to spend time with. I have so many memories of adventures with her and of laughing joyfully. Among some of my favorite memories are:

•	The zoo in Florida. I doubt Marsha or any of our cousins knew how much Valerie and I prized the wax animals they generously bought us on those trips.

•	Being stuck in traffic on the way to Shea Stadium (there’s a story there, not appropriate for this memorial…)

•	Marsha having enough faith in me, soon after getting my license, to drive 3 hours (rt) with me to Great Adventure in NJ. As fun as the entire day was, what stuck with me was her kindness when I was nervously backing out of a parking spot at the start of that day and almost (but not quite!) hit a pedestrian. 

•	Talking while walking along boardwalks at Fire Island, when something upsetting had happened. And later that trip, sitting on steps at the beach in the middle of the night, watching the moon and crashing waves.

•	Marsha, during a trip to NY, consoling my best friend in high school, the night she was driving in heavy rain and the car hydroplaned and we were in an accident.

•	My first rafting trip, on a visit in North Carolina.

•	Marsha and another wonderful cousin, Trina, traveling to NY for my wedding.

•	Marsha and about 25 other family members spending a snowy couple of days in our family’s 2 bedroom/1 bath house. Instead of celebrating our Gramma’s 90th birthday at a restaurant as planned, we made wonderful memories having snowball fights, trudging down the block to an open convenience store to buy beer, and waiting on line, laughing as we all we waited for entrance to that one bathroom. : ) Spending a snowstorm with Florida cousins made it all that more magical. And the people at that convenience store remembered our extended family for many years to come!

To Marsha – and all my cousins: I love you and thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the many ways you found to bridge years and miles for us to be family.

(Part 1) I am so very sad to learn of Marsha’s passing. It’s so hard to accept I’ll never hear her voice, or her wonderfully contagious laugh again. My deepest condolences to her soulmate Paul, and everyone fortunate enough to know and love her.

Marsha had a gift for making people feel special and loved. So much so, that am doing something I’ve never done before – leaving a memorial in 2 parts, as I find there is so much I want to share about Marsha. 

Because of distance, the times we spent together were too few. Every time I saw her though, she made it so easy to pick up, as though no time had passed. Marsha was among many kind and generous cousins, who always went out of their way to make my sister and I feel loved and welcomed – and a true part of the family when we saw them – despite our being about ten years younger and living so far away. Not all teens and young adults would go so far out of their way to do that. I hope Marsha, and all of my cousins, know how much their gift of extended family has meant to my sister and I – then and now.  

My memories of Marsha include so many conversations in which she shared glimpses into adulthood and took me seriously, wanting to know what I had to say, despite being “just a kid” or “just a teen”. Even in some of her darkest times, following the passing of her mom and her sister – two of  her dearest people, both of whom left this world all too early – she reached out and shared herself with all of us, when many would have put up a wall in times of such devastating grief.

The last time I saw Marsha was almost four years ago, at a family reunion in Florida. One of the many things that touched me on that trip was how in love she and her husband, Paul, still seemed after so many decades together. 

I hope so much that Marsha knew how much I adored her and all she meant to me. Her passing has left a hole in my heart. I am so grateful she left me so many memories with which to try and fill that hole.

Even though I only had the pleasure of spending limited times with Marsha due to distance I have some great memories:
Going to the zoo in Florida with her Paul and her sister Bridget 
The time everyone came up for grandmas birthday and got stuck in snowy weather in NY
another time she came up to be with grandma so my mother could travel. Marsha and I had some great times going out to dinner and traveling in NYC. Our time in NYC still brings a smile to my face. 
I am so grateful that we were able to arrange a family reunion a few years ago so we can see each other. 
The loss of Marsha is devastating at such a young age and for the love of her life - Paul. At times like this reminds me of how precious life is. 
I am so grateful for having known Marsha and that she was my cousin. 

OBITUARY

Marsha Jean Tait

October 16, 1956 – July 24, 2019

Caballero Rivero Southern

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