Thank you so much to everyone who attended the service on Saturday, June 14 for Maura in Montclair. Our family is grateful for all the love and support, memories shared and time together to celebrate Maura. We wish to share a summary of the tribute given by her daughter, Eliza, for those unable to attend the service.

Hi, my name is Eliza. I'm Maura's daughter. Thank you everyone for coming. We had a service earlier in New Orleans as well but my family and I are grateful to be able to celebrate my mom with people that she knew & loved for so many years in Montclair. I am not capable of condensing the impact that my mom had on this world in a way that fully does her justice, the only person who could is my mom herself because she was such a talented writer. Our homes were always filled with notebooks and scraps of paper with ideas for a novel or a few lines of dialogue between characters she thought of. My mom was always full of ideas, most of which were focused on ways to help others. She was always deeply concerned about the well-being of others, from close friends to strangers thousands of miles away. She taught me not just to care, but how to care. My mom took every opportunity she had to help others, expecting no thanks. It was just natural to her. I watched her move through life with such grace, beauty and kindness that can never be replicated. She loved to create community and connection with others. Many of you here were part of the gingerbread house parties she hosted every year. Even after my siblings and myself got older, my mom made a point every year to buy gingerbread house kits for us, even when we said we didn't want them. We always ended up making them. Gestures like that are one of a million things that she did for her children, to bring us joy and fun. I am beyond lucky to have her as my mom. She enjoyed so much about life but I know that motherhood was one of the things she enjoyed most. I know because I felt such fierce love and support from her everyday. When she got sick so suddenly there was no question in my mind that I would be by her side every step of the way because I know she would've dropped everything to be there for me, as she had countless times for myself and my brothers. My mom was clever and witty, she was the best crossword player I know. She was a great cook and avid reader, a lifelong learner. She was always teaching herself a new skill or picking up a new hobby, always on the hunt for excitement and growth. She was brave. One of the bravest things she did more recently was move to New Orleans where she knew no one but myself and brother Lucas and develop a beautiful, robust life filled with friendship, fun and service. I am so grateful that she chose to make a home in the same city I lived in and that I got to spend so much time with her. I am even more grateful that I was able to spend everyday of her last few months with her. That is a privilege not many get, and it was truly an honor to be there with her. I witnessed every nurse, doctor, technician and specialist we encountered fall in love with her. On her worst days she could still make them smile and laugh. During her last few days, when my mom passed, there was actually a huge snowstorm in New Orleans, which is an extremely rare phenomenon. It was so intense in a city that is not built for that kind of weather that the hospital was put on lockdown. No patient, visitor or employee could enter or leave. This meant that doctors & nurses had to stay in the hospital even after their long & exhausting shifts were over. News had spread quickly on the hospital floor that my mom had been on that she was going to hospice and despite the extreme stress of being in the hospital during the storm, all the nurses in the oncology ward used their break time to come see my mom and say goodbye. It was one of the most painful but beautiful experiences of my life and I know that it would not have happened if my mom hadn't been who she is, if Maura wasn’t Maura. I love her and miss her, so much. Thank you.