Rest in peace Maria. I am sad that your bright light was dimmed so soon. May your essential goodness be a balm to your family during this devastatingly painful loss. My deepest condolences to you cousin Jennifer, Woojin, Nina, Aunt Jean and all of the family and friends who Maria’s life has touched. I feel deeply for you.

Maria has always been an amazing friend, energetic, creative, outgoing, reliable, funny,  passionate and strong woman. Growing up with her and the various munchkins who were Kathrine’s group of best friends, I had the pleasure of seeing them all grow up. They grew up, but never grew apart from each other. They always stayed honest with each other and kind. Seeing Maria excel on the dance team, include all her friends in her successes and support them all in their successes. They were always there for each other. After high school, when l everyone went their separate ways, they all still stayed best friends. Life comes quick and it takes effort to stay in touch, but they did. They all grew into young adults, had their own paths starting to open up in front of them but when they got together/ talked to each other , they were just the band of munchkins again. New pets, new significant others, new passions, new jobs and new educational paths came and I know they all loved sharing those with each other. Life isn’t always easy and fun though, and I know that they also supported each other in their various struggles as well. They always supported each other… the loss of Maria is one that I won’t ever forget. I always knew I could depend on her to get through to Kathrine and knew that as long as Kathrine had her, she’d be ok. I looked forward to her next dancing videos, I loved seeing her bring Kathrine into that group and experience the joy she got from that group. The loss of a best friend, a daughter, a sister, is not something that I can say I understand. But what I can say, is that I’ll always cherish the memories of watching Maria grow up and keep her kind and passionate soul forever in my heart. I know there is nothing that I can do to truly help ease anyone’s pain, but please know that Maria was an amazing woman and everyone who knew her was proud of her. You raised an amazing daughter, a daughter that will be missed by everyone that she touched . 

Maria was an amazing friend and even better teammate. I will always cherish the moments we spent together on the dance floor. Forever my dancing queen!