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Robbinsdale, Minnesota, November 19, 2005Excerpts from the service: "Dear Pam, Well, I still can’t really believe you have really left us—I guess mainly because you are still very much alive in my heart and thoughts. What a great time we have shared through the years. I remember when we first met in Mrs. Shaw’s fourth grade classroom as ten-year old girls. Our friendship started from the first day of school. Elementary school was fun. Favorite memories were helping Miss Verna the school secretary after school each day, standing out in the cold as school patrols—to be rewarded with a cup of hot chocolate, and Girl Scout meetings with your Mom as our troop leader. Then we moved on to Junior High and our 7th grade accelerated class—where our friendships with Jody, Sue and Linda started. Of course you were always very smart, but your musical ability in band started to shine as well—first with the flute, and then with the oboe and piccolo. In retrospect, that showed how smart you really were. You only had a little flute case to carry around, while I had to deal with a French horn case that was huge and bulky—oh well! Speaking of music, I loved to go with you to piano lessons and your concerts. I couldn’t play at all, but loved to listen to you, especially when your Dad played too. That’s what inspired me to insist my own kids take piano lessons, and as you know, my daughter Angela still has lessons to this day. She loved to watch you play at our house—what wonderful memories you gave her! Remember our first date in 7th grade? You with Dave Carlson and me with Ron Anderson? We went to see The Spy Who Came in From the Cold—pretty high brow stuff for 12 year olds. I can’t say we liked the movie much, but that launched our dating careers—and we giggled our way through many double dates throughout our high school years. The high school years at Cooper were also fun. The academic side of school was fine—we were both in National Honor Society, but the social side at the time was way more important. You entered the glamorous life of the Cooperettes, the school dance line, with lots of early morning practices. I think that’s what launched your life-long love of dance and exercise, and what kept your gorgeous body in shape! Then we moved on to the college and the living in Europe years. Again, you went for the glamorous life working as an international flight attendant for Pan Am. When you lived in London, and I lived in Austria, we regretfully never met up in Europe. Even later when we both traveled to Europe for our jobs, timing was never right—but we certainly did have our plans to travel and meet in the future, once our kids were grown. Next followed the best years for you—marriage and two beautiful children. Unfortunately the marriage didn’t last, but the children sure did, and are wonderful to this day. Pam, I don’t know how you did it all those years as a single mom, but boy did you ever succeed! At the same time, I was amazed how you managed to work your way to the top executive levels of all the companies you worked for—like Hewlett Packard and Pacific Bell. I know you really wished you had gotten a college degree—perhaps that was your only real regret in life. But my dear friend, you are one of those rare people in life who really didn’t need a degree to succeed. Your intelligence and strength of personality carried you through. However, I also know that having both Mario and Marisa earn college degrees was one of your proudest dreams come true. A few years later when I had kids, many of our conversations turned to parenting stories—and I was able to learn from your experiences. I still remember your description of why one does not allow overnight birthday parties for 8-year old boys. When you had a party for Mario that year, after you thought the boys were sleeping, you woke up at 4am to find them playing a game of tossing ice cubes into your baby grand piano. You survived, the piano survived, and my son never had sleepover birthday parties! During these years you continued to have great adventures, sometimes with high tech companies, but also in other directions like film producing and painting. There were a couple of long-term boyfriend relationships, but the romantic fireworks really didn’t happen until you met Dan. After your sister Tammy set up the meeting with him, I laugh when I remember your description of that first date. You went to a restaurant, and the waitress asked if it was a first date. You emphatically said that no, it wasn’t a date, and Dan equally emphatically insisted it was. Whatever happened, the attraction was mutual and you finally found the true love of your life. What fun we had during your marriage years—first a beautiful and romantic wedding ceremony and then many happy years for you. Everything was perfect, despite some frustrations with your ears. But walking through your dream house with you last year made me so happy just to see you so happy. Pam, our friendship is still long from over. I will miss the giggles and sharing of deepest secrets. But I’ll throw coins in fountains all over Europe for you, I’ll hug your parents and children for you, and I’ll keep you in my prayers forever. With love, Cheryl Offerman
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