Wednesday, January 27, 2010

In Memory of Mary Lee Forsythe


It has been a sad day for me today. Earlier I received a call from a member of my Asheville Guild that one of our own had passed away. Mary Lee Forsythe has died from a massive heart attack. Those of you not fortunate enough to know Mary Lee have missed knowing her kind and generous soul. She always had a smile and a hug for those of us from Charlotte who made the trek up to Asheville to attend a guild meeting. She was a very talented clay artist and had even tackled silver smithing. Something I had hoped to get her to teach to me. After all we had plenty of time didn't we? Well as God sometimes does He had other plans for Mary Lee. We had also planned to go together to Cabin Fever and Synergy at the end of February. I was looking forward to getting to know her better. I am sure we would have had a fun filled time together. At our last guild meeting she showed me some necklaces that she had made using some of the beads I had made. I told her that we made a great team. I could make the beads and she could string them. She knew that finishing things is not my strong point. I meant to take pictures of the necklaces. Oh well we had plenty of time for that didn't we? Please go to the Blue Ridge Polymer Clay Guild site to read some very nice words (better than I can say) about Mary Lee.

Mary Lee's passing has made me think a lot about the friendships I have made because of polymer clay. I have a friend who sent me a note talking about the friends we have. It talked about how when we were young we had our "best friend". She was the one we played with, had sleep overs with, talked about boys to and everything else you did together. Now we have different sets of friends. I still have my close friends that I share everything with (well almost everything). But I also have my tennis friends and my clay friends. I started meeting new clay friends in 2006 when I went to my first Clay Carnival in Vegas. I now know that my clay friends mean a lot to me even though we may only see each other in Vegas. (Vickie, Lisa, Donna etc) I love doing clay and I love meeting people who love clay. My clay friends have grown right along with the number of retreats and classes I attend. Some I just get to know and then they move away. (Cheryl Medvedeff if you are reading this I have lost your email please write!) My clay friends here in Charlotte (Maggie, Cheryl, Brenda etc) I thank you for being here and putting up with me more often than anyone should have to. And to my clay friends in Asheville we will have a hard time because of the gap left in our lives but we will get thru it together. And perhaps we will learn that we don't always have plenty of time.

6 comments:

  1. Thank you for posting this. I didn't know Mary Lee but am sorry for her passing. And you are so right that we don't always have plenty of time.

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  2. toutes mes condoléances. c'est toujours difficile de perdre un Ami!!!Mon coeur est triste!
    Lynda

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  3. Thank You. This tribute is very special. My whole life revolves around the talent that my Mother helped me grasp. We learned together and taught each other, whatever it was we working on at the time.
    Thank You...Chris (Indianapolis,IN)

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  4. These are lovely words and a lovely photo of a woman who was very special to a lot of people. I'm so glad to see my aunt remembered here. Thank you for that...Cynthia Cravens(Chicago, IL)

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  5. I'm so sad about Mary Lee...thanks for this tribute, Julie; these things always make us stop and take stock of our friendships...

    My deepest sympathies are with those of you who were closest to Mary Lee and to her family...

    jana

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  6. Mary Lee and I were friends for more than 30 years. I never knew a more talented or more wonderful person in my life. For years I have had a hand painted Christmas ornament that she made for me when we both lived in Indianapolis. I have always treasured it. From now on, I will cherish it.

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