| Author | Message | ||
     Christopher T George (Editorcg) Moderator Post Number: 14390 Registered: 9-2003 Posted From: 69.140.82.20 |
Hello everyone Friends, I wanted you to know that my mother, Yoria Christine George, passed away peacefully about 2:30 am local time at Gilchrist Hospice, Towson, Maryland, USA. My Mom was born in Liverpool, England, September 27, 1920 so when she passed she was a month shy of her 90th birthday. The accompanying photograph shows Yoria in October 1943, when she was 23 years old and serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) helping to monitor German bombing raids on the Liverpool area. She married my father, Gordon B. George, a physiotherapist in the Royal Air Force medical service, on February 22, 1945 at St. Anne's Church, Aigburth, Liverpool. My family and I emigrated to the United States in 1955. My mother worked as a receptionist, latterly, before retiring from Woodholme Country Club, Pikesville, Maryland in 1974, to take care of my father who had been diagnosed with cancer. My father passed away in 1979. Thank you all for your expressions of support and sympathy. My wife Donna and I very much appreciate all of the care and love we have been receiving from our friends. My mother had a long life. I am her only child. Chris  Editor, Desert Moon Review http://www.thedesertmoonreview.com Co-Editor, Loch Raven Review http://www.lochravenreview.net http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com/ | ||
| Frank (Frankfaust) Senior Member Post Number: 289 Registered: 8-2004 Posted From: 121.214.160.101 |
So sorry to hear your sad news CHris. Please accept my condolences. Frank Cheers, Frank | ||
| Christopher T George (Editorcg) Moderator Post Number: 14391 Registered: 9-2003 Posted From: 69.140.82.20 |
Thanks, Frank, for your kind words. Much appreciated. Chris Editor, Desert Moon Review http://www.thedesertmoonreview.com Co-Editor, Loch Raven Review http://www.lochravenreview.net http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com/ | ||
| Administrator (Admin) Moderator Post Number: 1950 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 75.211.198.117 |
Hi Chris, blessings on your lovely mother and you and Donna. Thank you for allowing us to share a portion of your family's grief and love . Much love, Jim | ||
| Sarah S. (Sarah) Moderator Post Number: 3873 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 195.212.46.126 |
Dear Chris - So sorry to hear this. You were/are a wonderful son, and we all know that from your poems. Best, Sarah the rain in my purse | ||
| Mitchell Geller (Cynaraslover) Moderator Post Number: 3341 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 205.188.117.78 |
Dear Chris - Please accept my sincerest sympathies, and permit me to thank you for making your mother known to us through your poetry. mitchell | ||
| Trace E (Tracy) Senior Member Post Number: 1925 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 72.129.230.201 |
Chris, Your grief is a burden and I'm honored you have allowed me to help carry it a small distance. T Mr. E | ||
| Christopher T George (Editorcg) Moderator Post Number: 14394 Registered: 9-2003 Posted From: 69.140.82.20 |
Hello Mitchell, Jim, Sarah, and Trace Thank you each for your kind words of support. Much appreciated. My Mum had a long life, almost made it to 90 and she was a tough, feisty old bird even toward the end. Still, even though the passing is expected and inevitable it does not make it any easier, as you will know. Thanks to each of you for caring about Donna and myself at this difficult time. Chris Editor, Desert Moon Review http://www.thedesertmoonreview.com Co-Editor, Loch Raven Review http://www.lochravenreview.net http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com/ | ||
| Laurie Byro (Laurie_byro) Moderator Post Number: 5236 Registered: 3-2005 Posted From: 68.197.37.163 |
I told you this, this picture of her is breathtaking. I hope you share it with others as well. You have nothing to feel sorry about, Chris. I wish we could all live to be even 80 with so much positive from spouses, friends or children. I am certain most folks do not. I was speaking of my mom today with someone and I said "she may have lived a sad unfulfilled life, but her husband sat by her side for two years literaly and I did as much as I could, we are like two loyal dogs." Glad to have heard about her through your poems and hope to hear more. Remember, the relashionship doesn't die when the person does. Peace, Laurie check out new work by Byro/Waters http://heretics.bravehost.com/mp.html | ||
| Christopher T George (Editorcg) Moderator Post Number: 14402 Registered: 9-2003 Posted From: 12.4.30.253 |
Thanks for your kind words, Laurie. Also interesting and a lovely reminder of my Mom is the inscription on the back of that same photograph:  Editor, Desert Moon Review http://www.thedesertmoonreview.com Co-Editor, Loch Raven Review http://www.lochravenreview.net http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com/ | ||
| Rus Bowden (Rusbowden) Senior Member Post Number: 831 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 74.104.21.42 |
HI Chris, So sorry to hear this. Thank you for sharing her story, albeit such a brief version. If I may, what you say is online via the funeral home's site, as you know, with another photo of her: http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Yoria-George&lc=1457&mid=4356971 Yours, Rus | ||
| Christopher T George (Editorcg) Moderator Post Number: 14421 Registered: 9-2003 Posted From: 69.140.82.20 |
Hello Rus et al. Thanks, Rus, for your kind sympathetic words. Yes the obit I wrote is also on the funeral home site as you say. We had a nice memorial gathering at the funeral home yesterday at 1:00 pm, mostly old friends of my family but also with my long-time Baltimore poet friend Dan Cuddy. We then convened all except Dan to a local restaurant in the old mill valley of Baltimore, in a building that was part of the mill complex. Excellent food, drink, and conversation. Following is part of my remarks at the memorial which you might find of interest. Yoria Christine George (1920–2010) 3631 Falls Road, Baltimore, Maryland, USA Saturday, August 28, 2010, 1:00 P.M. —Inscription on an old gravestone, courtesy of Lisa J. Cohen A number of you might not know the origin of my mother’s unusual first name, “Yoria”. Here’s the explanation: My maternal grandfather, George Thompson Matchett, served in the First World War in the Lancashire Fusiliers as part of a British Expeditionary Force sent to Greece in 1916, a sideshow to the Western Front and the Allied forces disaster at Gallipoli in 1915. Grandad was there for nearly three years, mainly helping to guard supply wagons going to the front, where the British were fighting the Turks and the Bulgarians. Grandad was based in Salonika, present-day Thessaloniki, the capital of the Greek province of Macedonia. The local people called him “Yori”—Greek for “George.” When he returned to England in 1919, he decided that when his daughter was born he would call her “Yoria.” You also might not be aware that in our family Mum’s nickname was “Lule.” Yoria’s cousin, Frank Norman, whom Mum characterised as “a lovely boy,” could not pronounce “Yoria”—so he called her “Lule.” I never had the privilege of meeting Frank. He was the only son of my favorite aunt, Auntie Mary, my grandmother’s sister. Frank was killed in June 1943, part of a crew flying a Lancaster bomber on a bombing raid on Germany. My father, Gordon B. George, also had a nickname within the family. It was “Grod.” He received this nickname because as a little boy, he was unable to spell his name, and he wrote it as “Grodno Groeg.” So, to me, as his son, he became “Daddy Grod.” I would like to think, if all things are right, that “Lule” and “Grod” are at this moment together again. Editor, Desert Moon Review http://www.thedesertmoonreview.com Co-Editor, Loch Raven Review http://www.lochravenreview.net http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com/ | ||
| Nia Sunset (Nia_sunset) Senior Member Post Number: 590 Registered: 6-2008 Posted From: 88.244.98.207 |
 Dear Chris, sorry that I've just learned your mother, I am so sad as if I've lost some one who I met... But yes, I met and loved your mother in your poetry. I'm sure now, she hears all of us in her peaceful and endless place. She will always remain very much alive in the memories of all her lovers, who loved, respected, and treasured her. Even me, I haven't met in person but in your poems I know her and she is standing in her room with your poetical touches. R.I.P for her... and my deepest condolences to you and to your family, with my love, nia I live in my own temple; silence talks... nia.blogspot.com(photography) nia.blogspot.com/(poetry) | ||
| Christopher T George (Editorcg) Moderator Post Number: 14435 Registered: 9-2003 Posted From: 12.4.30.253 |
Hi Nia Many thanks for your kind words. Much appreciated at this time. That's a lovely photograph. Is it one of yours? Chris Editor, Desert Moon Review http://www.thedesertmoonreview.com Co-Editor, Loch Raven Review http://www.lochravenreview.net http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com/ | ||
| Christopher T George (Editorcg) Moderator Post Number: 14453 Registered: 9-2003 Posted From: 69.140.82.20 |
Baltimore poet Dave Eberhardt kindly posted the following piece at Poetry in Baltimore, and I thought you folks might be interested in what he wrote and my responses. re C George's mum's death She disappeared into the night, 8/24 & ten.... Frank's Lancaster bomber, 1943 gone.... Of Auntie Mary's- a favorite son! I think of artist Hockney when he says about the after life? "This one's a mystery? Why not another one?" Dave Eberhardt ************ Hi Dave Thanks, Dave. I never met Yorkshire-born artist David Hockney in person but I remember touring an exhibition with my friend Geoff in 1967 at Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery that included the finalists from that year's John Moores Prize. Hockney won the prize with a painting of a nude bloke climbing out of a swimming pool, "Peter Getting Out of Nick's Pool". My friend, local poet and artist Adrian Henri, had a painting of some cuts of meat in the same exhibition, "Meat Painting II - In Memoriam René Magritte". Chris. Editor, Desert Moon Review http://www.thedesertmoonreview.com Co-Editor, Loch Raven Review http://www.lochravenreview.net http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com/ | ||
| Cynthia Neely (Cynn) Senior Member Post Number: 372 Registered: 11-2006 Posted From: 207.200.116.131 |
Chris just back from my travels and checking in. I am saddened to read of your loss. I know you say she died peacefully and we all hope to do such, but it can still be so hard for the ones left behind to remember. I hope you find much joy in remembering your mother. Cyn | ||
| Christopher T George (Editorcg) Moderator Post Number: 14473 Registered: 9-2003 Posted From: 12.4.30.253 |
Hi Cyn Thanks for your kind words. Much appreciated. Yes it is hard but as you say I am reassured thinking of past times with my Mum. All the best Chris Editor, Desert Moon Review http://www.thedesertmoonreview.com Co-Editor, Loch Raven Review http://www.lochravenreview.net http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com/ |
