Terry's Tribute to Melinda
Melinda was a very caring and thoughtful sister/person. I doubt we could find many people who worked as hard as she did in her life. There wasn’t anything that she would not do to help you if it was in her power.
She loved theatre and music. We shared a few off Broadway shows together . She performed in many Brandywine summer productions in Delaware. For two years we sang together in a choral group called Arundel Singers as fellow altos. Many people sent their condolences from that choral group when she died saying what a strong addition she was to the group and how much they would miss her presence. I miss her as well as we became much closer over the past few years. She was a terrific support to me during some very trying times.
At her surprise birthday party that Beth gave her we found out much she was loved by her fellow coworkers who came to celebrate her special day. Her boss often told her that when she retired they would have to hire two people to do her job as she worked way above and beyond her job description.
She was often getting the most generous food care packages in refrigerated containers from people that she had worked with at her previous job. I know that because she gave me those very nice insulated styrofoam containers that I reused as wrapped packages in my annual Christmas display!
She was always stopping by to give me her recyclable items for me to use in my art as a teacher and then later on with my own art.
Melinda was very devoted to our Mom and was instrumental in making sure that our Mom had anything that she needed . She often stopped by on her way to work at 5:30AM.
Melinda appreciated everything anyone did for her and it was fun to see her delight as she received gifts from us.
She very strongly battled two cancers with subsequent chemotherapy treatments bravely continuing to work as soon as she was able. I sat with her twice during her treatments and I was amazed at her positive attitude as they fed that medicine into her veins for hours .
We are sure that her strong disposition helped her recovery. She had many strikes against her and kept on fighting through it all. It upsets me that Melinda did not live long enough to enjoy a retirement as she deserved to relax and enjoy life without work . As we know life is often not fair and I feel that she was unfairly taken from us too soon.
However I am very happy that she did not suffer the day that she died and went quickly.
We were not expecting her to leave us so soon and we were shocked at her passing.
We will always have you in our hearts, Melinda, and we are grateful that you are peace with God.
With love, your sister, Terry