Help Maria Arrive at Her Final Resting Place.

Please help our beloved Maria arrive at her final resting place. If you are able, our family is asking all who knew and loved Maria to consider lending a hand in the funding of Maria’s ashes to be placed within the legacy wall, beside the lovely courtyard garden next to her beloved, First Congressional Church of Winter Park. It is finally time to let her rest in peace.

October was Maria’s favorite month and Fall her favorite season. Her birthday was the 19th of October. This year, Maria would have turned fifty-five years young. She is a beautiful soul, a wonderful mother, a patient wife, a loving and dutiful daughter, a fantabulous sister, the favorite aunt and the very best friend anyone could ever hope to have.

Maria was a fighter. She lived 7 full years battling stage four lung cancer. She did not often speak of dying. Instead, she focused ceaselessly on beating this dreadful illness and living a long happy life. And Maria was almost always happy, always looking on the bright side of life, and always making the lives of those around her brighter by her warm presence.

Prior to her tragic death in January of 2018, Maria mentioned that she would like her remains to be placed in the legacy wall within the beautiful garden just outside First Congressional Church of Winter Park. For more than 15 years, Maria and her family were a part of this wonderful community. She had many friends at this cherished gathering place and would always do her best to make an appearance on Sunday morning, even if she was weak and it took every ounce of energy to be there.

The lovely courtyard garden is a true sanctuary for those who visit. It also serves as a lovely meeting area for tea and coffee after the service. Maria found great joy being in the garden, with all of her church family, and she would often be found there, hunting for Easter Eggs, or re-creating a biblical walk through Bethlehem, or just talking with her fellow travelers. All who knew her will remember that she loved any and all conversations, and she was truly interested in every person’s story.

As autumn is slowly moving in, and Maria’s birthday approaches, we would like to ask all of Maria’s friends and family (and even those who were not blessed by meeting her this realm, but may be moved by our memory of her). We hope to honor her wishes and have her name engraved upon a simple plaque, on the legacy wall, in the courtyard garden next to her beloved church, eternally a part of the place that gave her such peace. This will be a forever resting place for our Maria, where anyone can visit and take a moment to remember. Please help if you are able. Thank you.