Mary Ann Holmes

Mary Ann Holmes, age 88, passed away peacefully into the welcoming Arms of the Heavenly Angels and her God while in the comfort of her home with her Husband, Steve, and one of her Faithful Jamaican Angel Care Givers at her side. She fought a valiant battle for many years against the Cruel, Ruthless Ravages of Alzheimer’s Disease while in the care of her Husband, Steve, her Family, her aforementioned Jamican Care-Giver Angels and the Amazing Health First Hospice at Home Team. Mary Ann demonstrated incredible courage, strength of will, resilience and fortitude, while never complaining or resisting the efforts of her Care Giving Team. In the later stages of her illness, she lost the ability to speak but as Shakespeare wrote…”The Eyes are the Windows to the Soul” and Mary Ann could melt your heart and sooth your soul with just one look from those Beautiful Bright Eyes.

Mary Ann was born and raised in a Humble, Shot-Gun House in Metairie, Louisiana, a suburb on the outskirts of New Orleans along Lake Pontchartrain. She was full-blooded Italian on her Father’s side whose family immigrated from Sicily and French-Irish from her Mother’s side. With this heritage and the fact that New Orleans is the Quintessential Melting Pot, Mary Ann learned to love the Pageantry, Traditions and Food of the Big Easy, particularly that of Mardi Gras and the Food of the French Quarter. Mary Ann could crack and pick a Blue Crab clean apart with her eyes closed and here at home in Melbourne she became known as our very own Seafood Gumbo Queen. Undoubtedly though her favorite food was Shrimp. In these parts of Central Florida it is widely known around here that if a Restaurant didn’t have Shrimp on the menu, then Mary Ann wasn’t going to be eating there!

In the early 1950’s Mary Ann married her first husband, Ted Jenson, in New Orleans and they immediately began the task of building a family together. Their First Born, Darlene arrived in 1953 while they still resided outside of New Orleans and Mary Ann began her Life-Long Career as a Mother and Homemaker which in those days was just about the only option available to a young woman. But she quickly found that she loved this profession and worked hard to become the very Best Mother and Housewife that she could be whilst her husband pursued and Engineering Degree and Career. By 1957 they had relocated to their own small house in Coral Cables, Florida located just outside of Miami with Ted attending the University of Miami, full-time. A second daughter, Sharon, was born, and Mary Ann and her growing family began “living the American Dream” filled with weekend Neighborhood BBQ House Parties, Weekly Neighborhood Tupperware Parties and Bunco Card Games, Birthday Parties with all the Neighborhood Kids and PTA School Meetings. It was a happy, busy and exciting Wonderful Life for Mary Ann. But times change and a Graduate Engineer always had to climb the ladder of success to keep the dream alive. So they were off to make their fortune and Ted took an assignment and moved the entire family, lock, stock and barrel to the Island of Bermuda which was gearing up to become a major Tracking Station for America’s Race to the Moon. Now, Mary Ann who never had ventured out of America’s Deep South, found herself in Bermuda, a 26 mile long island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with two young daughters and no friends or family. Not only that, but no sooner had they arrived, Mary Ann discovered that she was Pregnant with a third child. At least they all spoke a form of English in Bermuda but with a pronounced British Accent and not the Southern Drawl that she was accustomed to. And they used some strange form of money with denominations called Pounds, Shillings and Pence and they drove on the Wrong side of the road! It was a massive culture shock for Mary Ann and the children and a real challenge for this young southern belle but she had a family to raise and with one on the way, so she started to learn how to live here on “The Rock” as Bermuda was affectionately called and just like back home, her new Baby arrived, and again it was another bouncing, baby girl to be named “Melissa:” There was a lot to learn on this isolated island. She initially thought that the Water in her basement might be a wading pool for the kids only to learn later that it was in reality their drinking water that ran off the roof when it rained and was collected and stored in the basement. But like any good Southern Girl she began to make friends, learn new hobbies and the different Bermudian English Traditions like flying kites and eating Cod Fish Cakes and Hot Cross Buns on Easter, watching Cricket and Rugby matches instead of baseball and American football, singing God Save the Queen instead of our Star Spangled Banner and only taking 5 minute showers because the fresh water supply was so limited. She found that she had a natural skill and love of Oil Painting and became a respected member of the local kNASA Wives Oil Painting club. Time marched on, 6 years passed and it was finally time to move back State-Side to resume their pursuit of the American Dream.

They settled in Maryland on the outskirts of Washington D.C. but now it was the 1960’s, the Simple Dream of the 1950’s had died and was replaced with the Chaos of the 60’s…Anti-War Protests, Desegregation school bussing, political strife and free love . Another Culture Shock that rocked the Family leading to anxiety, stress, and the final breakup of their little immediate family and marriage.

So once again another upheaval, this time to Cocoa Beach, Florida but now Mary Ann was a Single Mom, “On her own” but with a 7 year old daughter to care for. She was at “Ground Zero”, starting with nothing but a rental apartment, an Old White Volkswagen Beetle and an Alimony Check. She started off slowly, first using the sewing and darning skills she learned as a house wife for mending clothes for her apartment neighbors. She had never worked a day in her life as an employee of a business but she was always well organized, dependable, resourceful and well spoken. She landed her very first job as a cashier and stock clerk in a discount store named “Eagle Family Discount” which was a chain of stores in Florida that were the forerunners before the advent of K-Mart and Walmart. Mary Ann quickly found that she loved working in this Eagle Discount store. She loved stocking the shelves, reordering the merchandise and advising the customers, most of who were the Snowbirds and tourists that came to Florida to see Mickey Mouse.

So this young, petite, divorced housewife of the 50’s with no business skills set about the task of building a new life for herself and her young daughter, Melissa, who was just starting school in Cape Canaveral, “Rocket City, USA”. It was hard, but you know what? She did it! She moved up the ladder at her job and became an Assistant Manager. She lived in a small but well-kept Beach Front Condominium Apartment which she now owned (as a result of her divorce settlement) in Cocoa Beach. She worked long hours but still took in some small jobs sewing and mending clothes for the neighbors. She made friends, she kept the Old White Volkswagen rolling along and made a new life for herself and young Melissa.

In the meantime across the hall from Mary Ann’s apartment, there lived a young Engineer who worked at the Cape Canaveral Launch Site for Pan American World Airways as a Launch Complex Engineer. And that young man, me, Steve Holmes watched this pretty, slim young woman with the cute little blond girl almost every day as they sat by their beautiful Ocean Front Pool. But he was too shy to introduce himself to her.

Finally, this young, shy Engineer worked up the courage to speak to Mary Ann and sweet little Melissa at the Saturn Condominium Pool and thus began a relationship that lasted more than 50 years, 49 years of which were spent in Matrimonial Bliss. Over the next 3 years I courted Mary Ann and she quickly stole my heart with her Beautiful Bright Eyes and with her Awesome Cooking Skills. She introduced me to the wonders of New Orleans Cuisine, the likes of which I had never tasted. I’m talking about – Steamed Blue Crabs with Old Bay Seasoning, Boiled Cajun Crawfish, Home-made Italian Lasagna and her specialty Seafood Gumbo …What a Woman and What a Cook! And then we began a dating tradition that would last us for the next 4 decades that of Dinner and a Movie every single Friday Night (TGIF)! Our Go-To Restaurants in Cocoa Beach were: The Mouse Trap, Bernard’s Surf, Alma’s, Captain Ed’s, and Ramon’s. And of course we attended the movies at either the Barn Theater in Merritt Island or the Downtown Cocoa Beach Theater. And once in a while on a Special Occasion we’d go to Lee Caron’s Carnival Club for the Live Show with Big Red Fletcher and his group of Vegas entertainers.

Finally in 1976 after a 3 year courtship, Steve popped the question and Mary Ann and Steve were married at Our Savior’s Catholic Church in Cocoa Beach and we settled down with Melissa in a 4th floor rental Condo Apartment in Cocoa Beach and tried our best to create our version of living the American Dream for the three of us. Mary Ann continued her work at the Eagle Family Discount Store in Cocoa Beach while Steve left Pan Am and signed on with Rockwell International to work on the new Space Shuttle Program that had its maiden flight in 1981. Melissa was an excellent student and excelled at school moving thru Roosevelt Middle School, then on to Cocoa Beach High School and finally on to the University of Florida, graduating with a Degree in Business Administration. Along the way she made a large number of Life-Long Friends, Janice Capone, Laura and so many others remaining close with over the years. This small family of Mary Ann, Steve and Melissa moved from rental unit to rental unit and finally purchased a small new Condo called The Riverview Manor and in 1991 had a new house built in the New Town of Viera. During this period, Mary Ann’s older daughters, Sharon and Darlene started their own families and so our little family began to grow with the arrival of their children (our first Grand Children) – Sharon had two boys – Adam and Noah and Darlene had one boy – Elijah. These Grandsons became the Apples of Mary Ann’s and Steve’s Eyes, bringing such Great Joy and Laughter to both of our lives. Darlene’s Son, Elijah, was born with severe Cerebral Palsy but the bond between he and Mary Ann was and remains to this day unbreakable. Sharon’s son, Noah, and his wife, Jennifer have built their own family consisting of four beautiful daughters (now our Great Grand Daughters) named Kylea, Susan, Emma and Ella. These four young women have brought immeasurable joy to the lives of Mary Ann and I. And finally, our sweet little daughter, Melissa has built her own beautiful family consisting of her wonderful husband, Dave and two brilliant children, Zachary and Briana, each of which have filled our hearts and lives with love, laughter and pride. We mustn’t leave out Sharon’s Husband, Jan (our very own Britisher) who has become a beloved addition to our Merry Band.

Has life been all Hearts and Flowers? Of course not! There has been much pain, illness, sorrow, failed marriages and serious misunderstandings but on the whole we have been blessed by our God with lives filled with love, laughter, happy memories and pure joy.

Over these many years since our meeting and marriage, Mary Ann has grown as a Woman, Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother. Following her retirement from her work as a Retail Store Assistant Manager, she continued to hone her already extensive creative and artistic skills. She became an accomplished Oil Painting Artist. She became a member of a Porcelain Doll making club in Merritt Island in which she physically poured and fired the doll molds, sanded and painted the Doll’s Bodies and Heads and then cut, sewed and painted each historically accurate garment for each Doll. Then having created dozens of these porcelain dolls, Mary Ann switched gears and became a skilled painter of Porcelain China Plates creating elaborate and beautiful handmade masterpieces.

Mary Ann and I were fortunate to form many dear and loyal friendships here in Brevard County. The most significant of these friendships has been our association with a group of men and women each of whom had lost a spouse or significant other partner. Each of these people met in a Bereavement Group counseling meeting sessions and then got together with Mary Ann and I to form a Sing-Along choir of sorts that we nicknamed “The Crane Creek Crooners Association” and we have been meeting together every Monday Night for the past 12 years to sing an eclectic selection of Old Songs each Monday night across the street in our neighbor’s living room followed by coffee and delicious homemade baked goods. We also socialized extensively with this Group of Friends meeting together each Saturday Evening at a different restaurant for dinner and even going on two Caribbean Cruises with them.

Mary Ann loved to cook and be surrounded by her family, her children, her Grand and Great Grandchildren and friends during each holiday and especially during Christmas that she loved so well. She excelled at decorating her house for each holiday season, family gatherings, picnics and celebrations. This is what she lived for and why she was so loved by everyone that she touched.

And so now we have come full circle in describing the life and times of this unique woman, Mother, Wife, Grandparent and Friend. As the calendar opened on the year 2010 it became apparent that Mary Ann began to exhibit symptoms of a Neurologic problem that was later diagnosed as the onset of Alzheimer’s Dementia. In Mary Ann’s case the progression was very slow at first and at that time there were very few medications available to delay its debilitating effects. But through Mary Ann’s strength of will and resilience and love of life she was able to lead a productive life right up until her last few days. But, she did not do this on her own as she was blessed with a dedicated, compassionate team of family, friends and professionals that helped her and Steve to continue the battle against this cruel and ruthless disease. Led by her husband of 48 years Steve, her three Jamaican Angel Caregivers, Donnett Cabral, Cassandra McCarthy and Elaine Brooks and the superb Health First Hospice at Home Team of Nurses, Social Workers and Shower Aides they kept Mary Ann well nourished, clean, comfortable and Happy each day. In return Mary Ann would reward each of us with her priceless Sweet Bright-Eyed Looks of Love and Happy Smiles. I lived each day waiting for my Bright-Eyed Beautiful Wife to gaze at me with those Bright Beautiful Happy Eyes and give me one of her signature smirky smiles. I will forever miss those precious moments until, hopefully, sometime and somewhere we will be reunited. Rest in Peace Mrs. Holmes, until we meet again.