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A Tribute To My Mother

                                PATSI  PENNINGROTH GERRARD
                                  April 30, 1931 - April 24, 2005

      When you lose your MOM, it is a tough ordeal no matter what the circumstances were or how close the relationship was or was not.  For me, my brother Jeff and my sister Mary along with our Dad and our 99 year-old Grandmother (my Mom's mother) we were very close to her.

     Her wit and humor was always welcomed and her intelligence was sharper than most.  She always knew when to say something or not say anything about our actions in life. Oh, she would express her opinion but only to be helpful or constructive. She easily made friends and had many.

      She worked hard to be where she lived in Florida.  Her favorite daily phrase was, "It's just another perfect day in paradise!"

     She was born in Bismark, North Dakota.  She attended the Pennsylvania College for Women in Pittsburgh and was a B.A. graduate of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio majoring in Social Services in 1952 where she was a member of the Gamma Phi Betta Sorority and the Honorary Psychology Society.  She was a Honor Society graduate from Whitney Point Central School in Whitney Point, New York in 1948.  She moved to Rotonda West, Florida in 1992 after living 29 years in Charleston, West Virginia.  She was a social worker for the Kanawha County social services and for the West Virginia Department of Employment Security.  She was a licensed Nursing Home Director.

     I remember when I was a kid riding with her on her field trips during the summer months visiting the poor and unfortunate who lived in the hollows of our Mountain state. Those trips showed me how tough life can be and have a better appreciation of opportunities I have received. That was her biggest gift to people and society, helping those who were unable or not capable.  It gave her satisfaction knowing she tried to make other people's lives a little bit better.

     She was a champion Masters Bridge player and a constant reading machine of books.  As a kid she loved horses and owned many.  Her favorite was named "Lucky".  In retirement, she was very active as a Master Gardener for the State of Florida.

     She loved picnics and while growing up we had many a family picnic despite as I got older I preferred to play basketball and other sports.  Picnics for her was keeping the family together and enjoying the great outdoors. I have to agree it was a good combination. Two places were her favorite places for picnics.  One was Hawk's Nest State Park located on the New River Gorge in West Virginia and the other was the lighthouse county park beach on Gaspirilla Island or known as Boca Grande.  During the 1960's we had many family vacations in Englewood, Florida beginning in 1962.  It was those vacations that developed my love for Florida, my fishing skills and the complete awe of the Gulf of Mexico and the beaches.  I remember it was during the cold winter in February, 1962 my Mom drove us three kids from East Aurora (Buffalo), New York (prior to Charleston, West Virginia) to Englewood in a 1960 English Morris Minor car. There were no Interstate highways in those days.  That five-day adventure trip I will never forget and still ranks as one of the coolest things have ever done and I have done plenty.

     When I moved to St. Petersburg, Florida during August, 1972 to attend college she drove me down in her 1971 Green Volkswagen Beetle.  For many years afterward I would go home to West Virginia for summer or Christmas visits but as I developed new interests (mainly scuba diving) my visits became less.

     It was not until she had retired and moved to Florida in 1992 that I really had the opportunity to rekindle and developed a closer relationship. If there is one thing I am proud of it was the chance to take my Mom on trips.  My brother was great with helping her build and maintain her pride and joy, her xeriscape garden surrounding her home and was his "rock" to lean on.  My sister was always the closest to my Mom as most daughters usually are.  They had many wonderful trips and adventures together to various place such as Jamaica and her favorite city - San Francisco.  In addition, my Mom participated on trips on her own to England, Ireland, Spain, Scandinavia (with her Mom), Victoria, B.C, Canada, and the beautiful Oregon coast.

     From 1993 until 2003 I was able to take her to the following.  I introduced her to the Yucatan of Mexico when I moved to Akumal in 1992 from Tallahassee, Florida.  She has visited almost every year (sometimes twice in a year) and for three straight years we had our family Thanksgivings in Puerto Aventuras.  I took her to Havana, Cuba in 1997.  Twice she rode with me in vehicles I was driving down from the States (February, 1995 and June, 2003).  During August, 1998 I took her to her 50th High School reunion in New York driving from Rotonda West, stopping along the way for her to visit friends in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.  During that trip we visited the mountain lodge at Lake Piseco in the Adirondacks where we spent three family vacations in the 1960's.  We visited Niagara Falls, which in 1962 the Army Corps of Engineers had blocked off the flow of water flowing over the American falls (all water was diverted over to the Canadian Falls). We were one of the very few people in the world to walk across the dry river-bed and peer over the edge.  The Army was studying the erosion factor of the falls.  The cops saw us and chased us off as I ran and never got caught.  If this had occurred today it would have been jail and a heavy fine.  

     There were two times that I was able to take my Mom to visit the French Quarter of New Orleans and the many other sites of this fun city such the Aquarium, Jackson Square, the trolley of St. Charles Avenue and the Imax Theatre.  The last visit was in February, 1999 during the Scuba DEMA Trade Show, we went out with my friends - Tom & Cheryl Malcamp who live in New Orleans.  The took us to a great restaurant, a bowling lane that featured fantastic cajun zydeco music and dancing and last but not least a local bar that highlighted a jazz trumpeter - Kermit Ruffin - who is now an area music legend.  She got the biggest kick out of standing next to him and listen to him play his horn.

     During November 2001, I took my Mom and Dad on a great road trip to Belize and Guatemala.  We drove from Puerto Aventuras, across the border into Belize and we stayed four nights in San Ignacio.  We visited the great Mayan ruin site of Xunantunich in Belize and one day we hired a guide to take us to the famous Tikal ruins in Guatemala, definitely the best of all Mayan archeological sites.  (In fact, I have taken her to Chichen Itza (twice), Uxmal, Kabah, Becan, Tulum, Coba, Miyul, Palenque and Tankah.)  We visited the Belize Zoo, which they really loved and we drove down to Dangria, Belize on the beautiful Blueberry Mountain highway.  We spent our last night in Belize City at the Marriott Hotel before driving back to Mexico.  We stopped in Chetumal, Mexico and then had a great lunch at the famous Bacalar Cenote.

     My last trip with my Mom (and I knew it would be) was June, 2003 as I had bought a Chevy Astro van in North Port, Florida to take back to Mexico.  I invited her and she did not hesitate to accept.  She had finished a series of chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer of the neck and head (the same cancer that George Harrison had) during the past five months and the Doctors declared it was in remission.  She was excited and she felt a new lease on life.  Our first stop was San Antonio, Texas as we visited the famous fort site of the Alamo, toured the River walk and did a bus tour of the city. She loved the city of San Antonio.  Our next stop was Laredo, Texas and crossing the border into Mexico.  My paperwork for the van was in proper order and I must say it was one of the smoothest border crossings (out of seven) with vehicles I have had.  We drove straight through the dense city of Monterey without getting lost that I considered an incredible feat.  My Mom really enjoyed the drive as she viewed all the beautiful scenery of the desert and the Sierra Madre of northern Mexico.  We stopped in the towns of Victoria and Mante and then spent the night in Valencia.  While eating dinner at the hotel, the waitress served three choices of Mexican hot sauces.  I dared my Mom to try one.  She dab her fork slightly into one and placed it on her tongue.  Within 10 seconds you could see a few tears flow from her eyes.   I laughed my head off telling her this stuff would probably be better than the chemo.  She laughed with me knowing full well what she was doing.  We continued on the next day and stopped in the huge city of Tampico and did some sightseeing.  Continuing south on Highway 181 along the Mexican Gulf coast our next destination was the city of Veracruz.  We stayed here a complete day as we toured the famous harbor and drove around viewing the sites.  I found a great hotel room on the waterfront with a balcony overlooking the harbor malacomb and the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, we went to the huge mall and did some shopping.  Veracruz is a beautiful city that my Mom thoroughly enjoyed visiting.

     Our next stop was the city of Villahermosa. We had lunch at the Marriott Hotel and were making such great time that we decided to continue on.  Out of four trips driving vehicles from the States to Akumal or Puerto Aventuras I had always taken the highway across the bottom of the Yucatan peninsula to the city of Chetumal. This time I decided to stay on Highway 181 and follow the Gulf coast of the Yucatan.  I am glad we did because it was very picturesque. That night we made it to Cuidad del Carmen (Carmen City) and I got lucky and found a great hotel. This city is an oil town serving the offshore oil industry of Mexico.  It really is an island (or Caye) surrounded by a huge bay called the Bay of Campeche.  This city is basically an old Spanish colonial town that is rapidly changing into a modern, bustling city because of the offshore oil industry.  I recognized many American companies that service the offshore drilling.  During our next day we drove along a 30-mile stretch of Gulf coast with no buildings or development on the beach.  We arrived in the capital city of Campeche and to my surprise it way exceeded my expectations.  We drove along the beautiful malacomb and had lunch.  That afternoon our goal was to make it to the charming and wonderful colonial city of Merida - the capital of the State of Yucatan.  We stopped and both the Kabah and Uxmal Mayan ruin sites.  However, the heat was incredible so we could not stay as long as we had wished.   We finally made it to the downtown area of Merida or known as the Colonial historic section.  I found a great hotel that still used the elevators from the 1940's and we had dinner in the restaurant.  It offered great waiters and excellent food.  Afterward, we walked around the huge square and viewed the many huge Spanish colonial churches that were built 400+ years ago.  My Mom was very impressed with what she saw of the city of Merida.

     The next day we drove around parts of the city that I was familiar with before heading for Puerto Aventuras.   Along the way, we stopped in the small city of Vallodolid and then we had late lunch at the Archeological Club Med hotel at the Coba Maya ruins, one of Mom's favorite places to have lunch as she's been there several times during her previous visits to the Yucatan.

     After eight days when we departed Rotonda West, Florida we made it without a single glitch, problem or negative factor.  It was 99% close to a perfect trip and my Chevy Astro van performed as a champion.  We stayed three days in Puerto Aventuras and celebrated my birthday at the famous Kailum beach restaurant located north of Playa Del Carmen.  I had to get back to work so we flew from Cancun to Miami, rented a car and returned to Rotonda West completing the entire circle of the Gulf of Mexico.  My Mom was thrilled by the trip and I was completely happy and satisfied that I was able to successfully pull it off.

      I would guess most folks never had the opportunity to take their Mother on trips such as the ones I described.  I was fortunate that my Mother and I were able to do them together.  It was my gift to her for being the outstanding Mom she was for me.  I am lucky that I was able to be part of her life these past fourteen years.

     She fought hard to battle this terrible disease since it was first diagnosed 4 years ago.  This past year was really a tough challenge.  It took away her ability to speak and eat fourteen months ago.  She kept a positive attitude during very difficult circumstances.  It has been an intense and stressful ordeal for everyone in my family.  I felt the worse for her and everything she had to endure.  

     I must add that the professional doctors, nurses, staff and many wonderful volunteers of the Hospice of Southwest Florida - Port Charlotte were extraordinarily superb with their kind assistance and devotion to my Mother.  In fact, my Mom's wishes were in lieu of flowers to please make donations to:

Hospice of Southwest Florida, 5955 Rand Blvd., Sarasota, Florida 34238-5188 or call 1- 800 - 959 - 4291.

     I feel good knowing that she lived her life with a great family and the many wonderful things she has experienced. She is now at peace and I can hear her say again "It's just another perfect day in paradise".  She was a great friend.  I will miss my Mom very much.

Steve Gerrard lives in the Puerto Aventuras marina resort.  He has been safely teaching cave diving for twenty five years.  His favorite activity is underwater cave photography using the NIKON 100 digital camera with a Light & Motion Titan Housing using Ikelite strobes.  He is the author of the famous guidebook titled - THE CENOTES OF THE RIVIERIA MAYA and soon to be published  CENOTE DIVING - SAFE & FUN.   You can contact Steve at:

stevegerrard@cavediver.com  or  www.steve-gerrard.com