Mama B. Rest in Peace March 28th 2008

Today there is one less person on earth. Today there is a family mourning the passing of their mother, their sister, their daughter, and their friend.

Marie Louise Bortone was born December 20th 1949. The third oldest within her four sisters and one brother. She will be missed by all.

Marie was also the mother to four children. In order from oldest to youngest:
Allison, Bobby, Michael, and Andi.

Marie was also about to become a first time Grandma to twins in two months.

She enjoyed the world as a whole and accepted all of its creatures. She always stopped to smell the roses or look up and talk to the sky.

She loved God. Each day she spoke to him and although a lot of folks thought she may have been too religious, she enjoyed her silent conversations with him. She would always ask for his guidance and for him to protect all that she loved and cared for.

She also loved Watertown. That was her home. She was well known throughout the community and well liked by all who lived in it.

She was an amazing woman whose love knew no boundaries. Ever the caretaker, she spoke to her children each night over the phone and told them that she loved them. Whenever her kids would come to town she would drive out to the airport, no matter what time the planes landed.

Nothing mattered to Marie except her children.

In her short life she battled cancer three times and always gave it the fight of her life. Ever the comeback kid, that Marie.

She had always won until today.

In the weeks leading up to now she was not in any pain. In her own words "God took away all of my pain."

Gathered at her bedside, her children stood vigil over her. Their sibling bonds becoming increasingly tighter. They laughed. They cried. They loved.

Marie found much delight in her youngest daughter's pregnancy. "I'm a grandma!" she excitedly said. Each day she lay in the hospital fighting off the cancer that would ultimately claim her life, she lovingly gazed at the sonograms of her two granddaughters nestled deep within Andi's tummy. I believe this helped her fight harder.

In her final days she chose not to remain in the stuffy old hospital. She wanted to be with her family and so it was how she came to stay with her son, Bobby.

The night Marie passed away she was nervous. Maybe because she knew that it would be her final night and she worried about how her children would fare without her.

Later that evening she grew tired and fell asleep. She snored lightly and slept as peacefully as a windswept pond.

Everyone loves you Marie. We all miss you terribly. Thank you for everything over the years.

With love and sadness,
your son in law.