This memorial website was created in the memory of our beloved Marla who was born on August 21, 1979 and passed away on September 16, 2007 at the age of 28. As she is forever in our hearts, she will always be with us.

                   EULOGY

Marla, our daughter, our beautiful daughter, is gone from this earth in her youth, but she will never be gone from our hearts and minds. 
Born in Maryland but transplanted to Long Beach, CA at age one, our early memories include Marla riding her big wheel in front of the house with our black and white Springer Spaniel Oreo. There was rarely a time that she did not have a dog of her own that she loved deeply. She loved her dogs and later all dogs for dogs are loyal and that is a quality she expected in everyone. Among our memories of pre-school is the clubhouse the boys built with a sign that read ”Girls keep out, except Marla”. She was a tomboy and afraid of nothing. Our memories include her about seven years of age, climbing trees and jungle gyms. Always physically fit and tough as nails on the outside, she was soft on the inside. She just wanted to be loved unconditionally.

At eight years of age and twenty years ago, we moved to Plantation, FL. School, ballet and a series of jobs and relationships followed. We were proud of her accomplishments and feel she had many. But because of her high standards, she was often disappointed. Unlike the dogs in her short life, she felt disappointed, betrayed and abandoned by others. Her standards were her own and not always conventional. Her decisions and opinions were difficult to change once formulated and set in her mind. She kept her dark and sad feelings mainly private. Life and relationships were going to be on her terms. To give you an idea, her MySpace website profile when addressing who she would like to meet, Marla’s response was “I’d like to meet people who are real…tired of fake ‘wanna be’s’. I expect people to treat me with the same respect and dignity I treat others with and if you can’t do that, then you might as well keep on walking”.

She liked music and the color purple. She painted occasionally-a trait that seems to run in the family. She loved to dance and could she dance. To her family she was beautiful, bright, and loved. She was and is our baby girl.

Her life on earth was tragically short but in our hearts and minds she will live forever. Without her the sun will never shine as brightly, the ocean will never be as blue, and our lives will never be a joy.

The pain of losing a child is overwhelming. But it must pale in comparison to the pain Marla felt. Nothing and no one can hurt or disappoint her now. She is laid to rest today, at peace with the world and herself.