Mom

Mom always had the uncanny ability to surprise us with her recovery from bouts of illness or an accident. Many times previously when Mom fell or had pneumonia, we thought she would be too weak to recover, but no, she kept bouncing back, loving life as she did.
This time though, she did not make it, and left the physical realm behind.
It was very fast (15 minutes) and very unexpected, just three weeks short of her 97th birthday.  Mom passed away on Saturday, Sept 7, 2013.

She grew up as Ethel Jean Colvin in Seattle and Los Angeles.

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She graduated from Santa Barbara City College in Home Economics, the subject she later taught at the Santa Ynez High School in the mid 50s.

Mom at her college graduation

Ethel married (Robert) Bob Stevens in 1940, and after a brief stay on the Stevens' family ranch in Goleta, they moved to Los Olivos in the Santa Ynez Valley. Bob was a farmer and and later also a carpenter. They raised two daughters, Barbara and Patricia.

Ethel Jean Colvin and Robert Fredrick Stevens, married, May 30, 1940

 Travel was one of Ethel's favorite pastimes.  Bob and Mom explored lots of places in California and bordering states and also visited places in Europe like Spain, Russia, and parts of Mexico.
Sometime after Bob passed in 1998, Ethel went on cruises along the Pacific coast and through the Panama Canal to the Atlantic.
After living for some years in Encinitas near us, Ethel moved into a retirement home in Fallon, Nevada, very close to her daughter Barbara.

Ethel, Patricia & Barbara having tea in Old Town

 One of Ethel's passions was painting with watercolors or acrylics, and we once had a great conversation in which she explain to me how to look at my surroundings by seeing different shades and colors. I learned so much from her.
Mom will be missed, and we are grateful for having had some good fun and now fond memories of our time with her.