I'm sad to announce the passing of my mother, Rose Laman. Mom was 86 years old and lived a full life.
Born in rural West Virginia in 1923, mom experienced the Great Depression first hand. Jobs and money were scarce but people in her community bartered for goods and services, with my grandfather doing mechanic work in exchange for food to feed his family.
Mom was a nurse and after dad died in '86 she retired and joined the Peace Corps, doing medical work in Sierra Leone, Africa. After her Peace Corps duty she married my step-dad Dr. John Laman, and together they worked on Medi-Vans administering free health care to families in poor neighborhoods in Florida. They were quite a team. Dr. John died at 92 years old.
She moved to Louisiana to be close to Abigail and I and immediately went to work at Friends Of The Library, a volunteer charitable organization that collects used books for book sales with the proceeds being donated to local libraries. She was an avid reader and loved books, read the paper from cover to cover every day, and stayed on top of world news and politics.
Mom's lifelong passion was sewing and she was an avid quilter. It was a common sight to pass her house and see her at her sewing machine or cutting table. She leaves behind a dazzling array of quilted masterpieces and humbly said that she was really not that good.
With failing eyesight, painful arthritis, and two knee replacements, she forced herself to keep going. Abigail gave her a computer and taught her to email. This quickly became a very important part of her daily life.
She was a mother to my sister and I and a mother to three of my cousins. She was also a friend, advisor, and a very funny lady with a great sense of humor.
She faced death bravely and without fear.
They just don't make 'em like her any more.
~Sam
Born in rural West Virginia in 1923, mom experienced the Great Depression first hand. Jobs and money were scarce but people in her community bartered for goods and services, with my grandfather doing mechanic work in exchange for food to feed his family.
Mom was a nurse and after dad died in '86 she retired and joined the Peace Corps, doing medical work in Sierra Leone, Africa. After her Peace Corps duty she married my step-dad Dr. John Laman, and together they worked on Medi-Vans administering free health care to families in poor neighborhoods in Florida. They were quite a team. Dr. John died at 92 years old.
She moved to Louisiana to be close to Abigail and I and immediately went to work at Friends Of The Library, a volunteer charitable organization that collects used books for book sales with the proceeds being donated to local libraries. She was an avid reader and loved books, read the paper from cover to cover every day, and stayed on top of world news and politics.
Mom's lifelong passion was sewing and she was an avid quilter. It was a common sight to pass her house and see her at her sewing machine or cutting table. She leaves behind a dazzling array of quilted masterpieces and humbly said that she was really not that good.
With failing eyesight, painful arthritis, and two knee replacements, she forced herself to keep going. Abigail gave her a computer and taught her to email. This quickly became a very important part of her daily life.
She was a mother to my sister and I and a mother to three of my cousins. She was also a friend, advisor, and a very funny lady with a great sense of humor.
She faced death bravely and without fear.
They just don't make 'em like her any more.
~Sam
