Gloria

My cousin Gloria May Myers Schooling, daughter of my mother's brother, passed away last week having suffered from ALS for over a decade.  She was just ten months older than me.  She is survived by her husband, her father, two brothers, two children and three grandchildren with a forth expected in November.  And a multitude of cousins, nieces and nephews and friends.  She was beloved by many.

Memories stirred up by the news have been haunting me all week.

One of them is one of my fondest memories of Gloria and possibly of my entire childhood.  That was of watching her brush her mother's long red hair.  Aunt Pauline had suffered a stroke during her first pregnancy and had limited use of her left hand so could not brush her own hair.  In one of several memories of Gloria brushing it, Aunt Pauline is sitting on a piano bench and her hair very nearly reaches the floor.  Gloria is young enough she still has to reach up above her own head to reach the top of her mother's head.

I remember how careful she was, how patient, gentle and kind.  And always, always with the smile that was her essence.

Gloria Mae Myers Schooling
1957-2013