John, my younger brother and only sibling, and I met at the funeral home on Monday morning to make arrangements for a Thursday memorial service. When the gentleman interviewing us asked if we wanted them to supply an organist we said definitely not.

This was going to be a celebration of the life Mom lived, not a mourning of her passing.

More than just about anything, Mom loved to dance. She danced every morning as part of her exercise routine and when she broke her hip 10 weeks ago, the first question she had for the doctor was, "Will I be able to dance again?" Unfortunately, she never did.

So here's a description of the party we threw for our wonderful mother which was attended by over 150 people, with standing room only.

We had asked every to wear read and the only ones who didn't never got the directive. One women actually went home after the service to get something red so she could show up at my house in the "proper" color.

In the parking lot, before the service, there was a parade of red heading toward the building. Mom loved red and she was for sure loving this tribute to her.

We had a big poster of the photo above, which certainly set the tone that this was a celebration and nothing sad. And it looked so festive among all the gorgeous flowers that so many people had sent. As an aside, when John and I were making the arrangements, we knew she'd already paid for the obituary but we didn't realize she'd also given them a photo to use. I was ready for a fight to override whatever was in that sealed envelope because I absolutely wanted to use the Enthusiastic Eve photo, as did my brother. Well, glory be (as my mother would say), I opened the envelope and, yes, you guessed it, there was the exact photo we wanted to use.

I has prepared a talk so that the high points of Mom's life could be shared, as well as her last few days. It was so great to look out over a sea of red. I told funny stories, sweet stories, loving stories and even my friends who had never met her felt like they got a feeling for who she was and were sorry they never knew her.

I also shared some of the things she said on the last day she was awake. She recognized everyone who was with her and came for visits but she was saying things that were often unrecognizable or where from memories gone by. Here are a few:

Out of the blue she said: "I never wear green." (She always liked to look good and knew red was her color)

When Delores, her primary caretaker, left the bedroom she said: "Doesn't she have a cute butt? I never had a butt, you know. They used to call me Broom Butt."

Another, out of the blue comment: "Boys," smiled mischievously, "what can I say."

When Jesus, the man described in the photo, walked away from her after taking her blood pressure: "It's fun letting the boys look down your dress."

There was a point when I asked her, "Mom, what do you need?" She looked right at me and said, "I don't need anything." Considering what was happening to her, and that she was surrounded with people who loved her, isn't that the truth.

John showed up and she told him, "I'm kina havin' a ball." And later, "We've had a good time."

When I was going down the list of all her friends and family who loved her she said, "Yes, and I danced with them all."

And then, another out of the blue, but so beautiful statement, "God bless us for the rest of the day." I'm crying as I write this last one.

After I finished my talk, the man she worked for for many hears, Eric Bohm, got up and spoke about his time with her and how they had stayed friends, even after they both had retired.

Then, it was time to dance. She loved the Zydico Zippers and was the biggest fan, a groupie, actually, because she always went to their performances and danced. So JT and his father came and played. We told everyone to get up and dance and if they didn't dance to wiggle. Then JT played his little accordion and his father played the washboard. It's the happiest music you can imagine. Here's a photo of the two of them playing. I thought they'd have some of their music online but they don't. I'll record some next week when I'm back in Santa Barbara and share it with you.

Everyone got up and danced and when it was done, we all applauded. It was a wonderful way to experience the energy of how Mom lived her life.

After the dancing the singing group she sang with for over 30 years sang You Are My Sunshine and then sang it again with everyone joining in.

Then I opened it up for anyone who wanted to to come up and tell stories about Eve. Several came up and shared funny and sweet stories with us. Afterward everyone was invited to continue celebrating at my home. It was a very special day.

Mom didn't care about much other than being with family and friends. There was her Santa Barbara family, John, me, my daughter Amber, son Brent, grandson Avery, fiance' Chris, and Fanny and her daughters Judy and Karen and Judy's daughter, Heather (one of a set of twins). Also represented were lots of friends from AA, a very important part of her life. With 44 years of sobriety she was an icon in Santa Barbara. Her closest friends, Sally, Diane and Melody were also there. All in all, it was a day we'll all remember and I'm certain that Mom was celebrating along with us. What a send-of to her next adventure.

Mom, we love you and are grateful for how your raised us to be good people.

Kara and John