Saturday, October 25, 2014

MB, November 6, 1944 - October 23, 2014

Miriam died at around 12:15 PM Thursday in her apartment at an assisted living facility in Santa Fe.  Although her condition had been worsening steadily, the timing of her death came as something of a surprise, even to the caretaker and hospice nurse who were with her.  She had had a rough day on Wednesday, but her afternoon caretaker wasn't particularly alarmed, so I didn't have my cellphone on when the Thursday mid-day caretaker tried to reach me shortly after 11 AM.  I found out the news at around 1:30 and tracked down my wife, MS, in the community college classroom where she was teaching, then we went over at 2:30 after her class was over.  Miriam was lying peacefully, looking very much like herself.

She did not want any memorial service, which is not to say that there won't end up being one (sometimes the survivors get the last word).  I know that she wanted at least part of her electronic legacy maintained, but don't remember her saying what she wanted done with this blog.  I'll have to reread her will and associated documents for guidance and ask her other Santa Fe friends if they remember her saying anything.  If I don't get clear guidance there, I'll ask if readers have a preference between keeping the blog online as an archive and having it go away.  I would like to figure out how to get as much as possible of the no longer accurate information taken off, but I'm fairly inexperienced with the Blogger software and quickly got intimidated the last time I started to deal with the process.

Thank you to any of her other friends and readers who see this.

RF

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this sad update. I will miss Miriam's words here, her beautiful photos of her much beloved Olympic Peninsula, and the view out her window. May her memory be for a blessing.

David Chadwick said...

Placed this last post on a page for Miriam at cuke.com:

http://www.cuke.com/people/bobkoff-miriam.htm

Would like to help preserve the whole blog. David - dchad@cuke.com

Random Michelle K said...

Sympathy and comfort to you and to all who loved her.

Unknown said...

Thank you for staying close to Miriam at the end of her journey. I got to know her as we also moved to Port Angeles about the same time, over 7 years ago. Our love of Orcas and living in the Pacific Northwest created a close bond. I was just cleaning up emails and saw one from her. Yes, think it would be nice to keep her blog and all the marvelous documentation about her trips to the ocean. Rest in peace, Dear Mir. The world was a better place because of you !

Judi Maxwell said...

We did email back and forth on DorothyL and I will miss here there.

Unknown said...

Mir was also a very loved member of OrcaLive. Helena and Paul research the Northern Orca Residents off the northern tip of Vancouver Island. I wrote a notification of her passing and several people responded with wonderful memories:
Had many a conversation with Towhee over the years here. Very sorry to hear this news.. swimming free now.. allan.. Xx
May your soul rest in peace Towhee.Love Nico xx
I wanted to make a donation in Towhee's name (such sad news!)Sally@London
Mir was truly loved!

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Miriam for sharing your spirit and curiosity.