The emma Memorial Thread

[RJDiogenes]

Here is a thread to remember our old friend emma. She had a hard and troubled life, but she was a sweet person who loved everybody here at ReNext. Everybody is welcome to post their thoughts here.

I have a couple of pictures from emma's funeral last Friday:



Here is her Honor Guard at Riverside National Cemetery, the military cemetery where she wanted to be interred. She was buried with full honors. When the marker is placed, Kent will send us a picture.



These are the folks who were able to attend. The guy in the tie is Kent, an old friend of hers who used to help her with her computer. On the far left is Lisa, emma's nurse at the VA who I worked with while emma was sick, and who I met last Summer. On the far right is LaTonya, Lisa's assistant, who I also worked with but never got to meet. They both really bent over backwards on emma's behalf many times over the years. The other two people are emma's sister and her husband, who I do not know.

And here is the handout that Kent made for the funeral. It has a bunch of pictures of emma on the last page.

[Lupine]

I was just wondering how the funeral went.
It's good that she was buried with full honors.

[RJDiogenes]

Everything went pretty perfectly, according to Kent. I wish I could have been there. Is the cemetery far from where you are?

[Lupine]

I think about 2 hours on a good day, but realistically probably around 3 hours on most days.

[RJDiogenes]

That's a pretty long hike.

[scottydog]

Thanks for adding this thread, RJ. Those pics of emma really touched me. She was such a beautiful woman. Then she got older and became the emma that I knew.

My goodness, she was only 73 when she passed. That's too young. I imagine she had a very hard life and that it aged her.

I'll remember her as someone who served her country with distinction and who was a true pioneer and way-paver for women aviators.

[Sci-Fi Girl]

~

Oh my. ❤

I know I haven't posted here in a while, but I have to post for emma (whom I knew as Nonny).



I was just thinking of emma today!

I was sorting through things, and I opened a drawer that I rarely use. In the drawer was a bundle of produce tags that I had written when shopping at a local health food store. And one of the tags was for "Ginger Gold apples"!

Ginger Gold is an unusual variety of apple, that I love but haven't been able to find recently. But the thing is, the only reason that I even knew to try these apples in the first place, is because emma had recommended them!

So today, I stood there staring at this produce tag for the longest time. And all I could think of, was emma!

And a few hours later, I saw notification of this thread.


I'm keeping the produce tag. But it's not the apples that I miss.



So, if you ever find some Ginger Gold apples, eat one in honor of emma!

https://www.specialtyproduce.com/produc ... s_9358.php


SFG

[RJDiogenes]

Thanks for adding this thread, RJ. Those pics of emma really touched me. She was such a beautiful woman. Then she got older and became the emma that I knew.

I have a lot of pictures of her in my archive. I'll post some more.

My goodness, she was only 73 when she passed. That's too young. I imagine she had a very hard life and that it aged her.

The last couple of years especially took their toll on her.

I'll remember her as someone who served her country with distinction and who was a true pioneer and way-paver for women aviators.

This is true. She deserved much better than what she got.

I know I haven't posted here in a while, but I have to post for emma (whom I knew as Nonny).

It's always great to see you here. And thanks for reminding me to post this at EI. I meant to last night and got sidetracked, as usual.

I'm keeping the produce tag. But it's not the apples that I miss.

That's a nice memento. I have a few things saved that remind me of her. I even have saved a few of her phone messages, from the days before her dementia got really bad.

So, if you ever find some Ginger Gold apples, eat one in honor of emma!

I remember when we used to put together Whole Foods orders to be delivered to her, she had very specific requests for fruits and other things. I don't remember if she asked for Ginger Gold apples, but I will see if my store carries them.

[scottydog]

I know I haven't posted here in a while, but I have to post for emma (whom I knew as Nonny).

It's good to see you SFG, it's been too long! They say that death brings people together and apparently they are right.

What was your connection to emma? I also remember her as Nonny, emma, and eventually as Amy. For a long while I didn't know her real name.

Flowers for emma.

[jgc]

Yeah, I miss emma a lot. I really admire her for her choice of joining the Air Force. She was an aeronautics mechanic, right? A position very few women aspired to in those days.

[RJDiogenes]

Flowers for emma.

That is very sweet.

Yeah, I miss emma a lot. I really admire her for her choice of joining the Air Force. She was an aeronautics mechanic, right? A position very few women aspired to in those days.

Yes, the term she used was avionics mechanic. I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not. According to her, she was the first female avionics mechanic in the Air Force. This was back in the 70s.

I'm going to post a few more pictures of emma from my archives. I'll start with the two that are my favorites, for obvious reasons:

[Lupine]

I'll post some when PostImage is in a better mood.

[jgc]

Yes, the term she used was avionics mechanic. I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not. According to her, she was the first female avionics mechanic in the Air Force. This was back in the 70s.

Yeah, they're two different things.

[Sci-Fi Girl]

I know I haven't posted here in a while, but I have to post for emma (whom I knew as Nonny).

It's good to see you SFG, it's been too long! They say that death brings people together and apparently they are right.

What was your connection to emma? I also remember her as Nonny, emma, and eventually as Amy. For a long while I didn't know her real name.

Nonny was very active at ExIsle, the board I have posted at for years.  We became good friends there, and talked about everything: from movies and politics, to folk music and linguistics, to personal histories, and lots more.

She was my hero! (And I told her so! )


We had something there called the hug threads, which started out as daily virtual hugs for a member going through a rough time.  But it evolved into our version of your check-in threads, with friends talking about daily lives, sharing pictures etc.. She posted there often, so I heard all about her adventures: pictures of birds and bunnies, trips to the desert, Jim & Leo etc...



(I have been posting at Exisle for so long, that my fingers want to automatically type all her favorite smilies. But the smilies are all different here! )


The old version of Exisle is gone now, along with everything she posted there, though I did manage to save some threads via archive.org, including the hug threads. (Huggle made a new version of EI for us to post at.  I am still hoping there is a way to restore something of the old board from backups. )



Anyway, a while ago I started writing stories of all my favorite interactions with Nonny.  So far I've written what I am calling the first chapter. When it's finished, I promise I will post it here too!



  (((((((everyone))))))) 


SFG 

[Lupine]

Some pics from my collection (posted from Postimage so they won't disappear).