One Name; One Memory

What can I say that hasn't already been said about Marilyn Praisner. Here is the announcement on the MoCo Council website.

She had reached that level of awareness that she was came with only one name: Marilyn. If I say "Michael" or "Magic" you knew I was talking about basketball. If I say "Hillary" you knew I was talking about perhaps the next President of the US. And if I say "Marilyn" I was talking about all things MoCo. There were few people that could match her on knowledge of the county.

In looking over the web for more news about Marilyn I came across this video from the Gazette that was done on October first of last year. You will have to scroll down to find it. It was pre-special session in Annapolis. But if you click on it you will get an excellent feel for the person who has left us.

Our paths crossed many times but my most vivid memory was from the campaign trail. I remember seeing her walk in a wet and cold Burtonsville Day Parade in 2006. Two hours later, she was at a Fall Festival in downtown Silver Spring and then yet another event I had long since forgotten after that. I may not remember the final event but I do remember who had the still had a wide same smile on her face, who was eager to connect you, and who still looked marvelous. It was Marilyn. I was dragging but she fed off of the energy of the people she met. So hearing that she put in a full day of work before she went in for heart value replacement surgery does not surprise me.

I recently moved into her district. I had not yet had the chance to vote for her. I don't claim to know her as well as several of our readers but it does strike a chord with me. My father passed away of the same complications several years ago. In some ways that feeling of emptiness never leaves you. Today's news begins back old memories of longing. Sadness can overcome you. I prefer to remember the good times. For me, it will be that cold and rainy day in the Fall of 2006 and the one with the widest smile and unbounded energy was Marilyn.

It is cold and raining outside as I write. I think of them as tears.