My name is Marianne Ek, a friend of Ramona’s and it is an absolute honor to speak at this celebration of life for someone who has touched me so deeply. I met Ramona at Helix High School where she was, what people nowadays call, the complete package. Kind, beautiful, witty and smart, she exuded bubbliness and a positive energy that drew people to her! Everyone loved Mona! On top of that, she was a serious student, the type that every teacher appreciated. An extra-curricular activity that she enjoyed was creating our Tartan yearbooks with one of her favorite teachers, Mr. Ray. She and I had fun crafting our senior yearbook pages together. She also enjoyed cheerleading at sporting events and early morning pep rallies. Fast food eateries were hang outs in the 70’s but Ramona, in high school and beyond, will always be associated with salads at Sizzlers. It was one of her favorites. While many of our high school classmates, in their teen years, were figuring out who they were, Ramona possessed a strong character. She was comfortable in her own skin and never seemed to feel the need to conform to the standards of anyone else, including her peers. Ramona was raised in a healthy, loving family by wonderful parents and it showed in the way she carried herself and in the kindness and encouragement she was always ready to offer others.
Our lives continued to intertwine after high school. We shared the dream of becoming teachers so we traveled similar college paths. As college sophomores, Ramona and I both began our search for teachers’ aides’ jobs and she was soon placed at Miramar Ranch Elementary School. Most college students would have hesitated to accept a job that included a 40 min commute at 7:00 am, 5 days a week, but instead, she somehow talked me into it too. And so began our daily travels that surprisingly seemed much shorter because we gabbed the whole way up and the whole way back. We passed the time chatting about boys, friends, family, school, and just about anything. It was our own little morning talk show! What I remember most is that Ramona loved to share about family gatherings and events, especially sporting events. She dearly loved and admired her siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, and friends who had become like family. Most of all, Ramona adored her mom and dad, confiding often in her mom and sharing her mom’s thoughts about one thing or another with me! I looked forward to hearing those stories about her wise advice, which Ramona most often took. There was not a single family member, immediate or extended, who was not a very important and appreciated part of her world.
We both married soon after college and Mona was a glowing, beautiful bride. Bill, although she played a little hard to get back in the 70’s, when she fell in love with you, you completely won her heart. You were her prince, her rock and the light in her day. Whenever you were mentioned, her eyes shone and her entire face lit up. Ramona, throughout her life and to the credit of many of you in this room, was always surrounded in unconditional love.
Mona and I wanted to be moms even more than we wanted to be teachers, so after all of that effort, before either of us had really gotten a running start in our careers, we were both pregnant with our first child. Before we knew it, we were caught up in the delicate balance of new careers and new babies. We were both fortunate to land a part time teaching job, which was a novel idea at the time, in the LMSV School District. She found Jared a daycare provider and happily began her career. Ramona was an excellent teacher! One day, maybe a couple of weeks into the new school year, upon returning to pick Jared up, she found him sitting alone on the other side of the daycare provider’s screen door. The screen door was closed and locked but nevertheless, there was baby Jared, gazing through the mesh, unattended. I wasn’t privy to exactly what went down between Ramona and the daycare provider, but I do know that she was fired on the spot, in no uncertain terms. When I heard the story, I asked, “Ramona, what are you going to do for childcare?” To my surprise, she had already called the district and quit her job. She said that no one could take care of her child like she could and she had no intention of going back. Being a mom was Ramona’s greatest joy! She was entirely devoted to Jared and Hayley and loved them with all of her strength and with all of her might. Living in the same neighborhood twice, meant that we were able to watch Hayley and Jared grow up. Jared and my eldest were in the same grade and Hayley and my daughters enjoyed dance. In a small town like Jamul, there were community and school events, dance recitals, and more.
Keeping in touch with your high school friends after all the weddings and baby showers fall to the wayside is hard because life gets busy. In an effort to keep us close, I started a Bunco group. Ramona was a special part of this group for years and we always looked forward to getting together once a month for ladies night out. She loved these nights and her contagious laugh was a part of every game. In the early days, we could get pretty wild over a toss of the dice, to the point where we sometimes kept the neighbors up! 31 years later, we are still going out once a month, minus the Bunco. Many of us in this original group would visit Ramona after she could no longer join us. When she could still actively talk with us, she’d remember our discussions from one visit to the next, all of our children’s ages and the details of their lives and our lives. She had an uncanny memory for those kinds of things and she of course, loved talking about her own beloved children. She took such pride in each of them. Even while the symptoms of HD progressed, Ramona’s face would still light up when we walked into the room. We looked anxiously for that each time. She loved to listen to us talk, even when she couldn’t respond, as she’d like to. A really good day was when she laughed at one of our jokes. In spite of her obstacles, Ramona was a model of tremendous strength, dignity and grace throughout her life and she fought to not let HD define her. Not once, along the way, did I ever hear her ask, “Why me?” when she had every right to. A visit with Ramona was entirely humbling. Her tenacity to be fully present for others in the face of her many daily challenges inspired and touched us all greatly. She was right there with us in whatever capacity she could be. The hardest part about these visits was walking away when she couldn’t. Today, I imagine her free at last from all the pain and suffering. Besides resting in peace, I imagine her perhaps sipping coffee Frappuccino’s with her mom, reading history books for fun, writing in her journals and going for long jogs. Ramona loved and served well on this earth. She showed bravery beyond what most of us could ever imagine. As she entered the light of heaven, I imagine the words she heard sounded something like “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” May God bless you with strength and peace as we strive to keep Ramona’s precious and vibrant spirit, ever present in our hearts.