safe travels, mama.

last night, on saturday july 16, 2011, my mother succumbed to the cancer she has been battling for just shy of a year and passed away. she fought hard and kept her head above water and was doing very well for most of this time. all of this changed about a week ago when she took a rapid down turn. it all happened very fast. her passing came swiftly and without pain. although it is a blinding shock to the family, there is great comfort to be found in these facts.

i could go on about my mother's influences on me but the basics amount to this - she taught me most of my craft skills, filled my life with making and always support even my most wild creative impulses and "career" choices.

my father took that picture above before i was born. they maintained a strange yet great relationship throughout their lives even though their marriage lasted only a couple of years into my life. i can only hope and imagine that they are now irritating one another in the great beyond.

me, i am off to the northwest to be with my family and say my goodbyes.

i am sure this comes as a shock to those of you who knew my mother and am sorry if this posting is bringing you the news. she seemed so full of life and tenacity that her disappearance from this mortal coil still seems impossible to me.

my mother had so very many friends, colleagues and acquaintances that i feel overwhelmed with the task of spreading word of her passing. please help if you can. my family is planning an informal wake/open house this thursday in vancouver. i will share more details as they emerge. i, for one, plan to laugh through tears, make terrible puns and share long stories - just as she would have wanted (and done).

anne theresa hershoran garber
1946 - 2011

you are loved, missed and not forgotten.
i will see you in my weird hairline, pointy face and huge teeth every day.