Beatrice Gomes Neves was Linda’s Mom. She was a gentle spirit, devoted wife and mother, grateful, faithful, and loyal. She loved to laugh, sew, and drink her tea. She loved her family unceasingly and stood by Leonard, Linda’s Dad through decades while his body deteriorated with MS.

Bea died peacefully in her sleep on October 30, 2018, at the age of 89. Linda and I not only lost a mom but also a friend and a person who cherished family.

Bea was born into a very large family on the Big Island of Hawaii. She moved to the mainland in her early twenties where she met Leonard, also born and raised in Hawaii. They had two children, Linda and Mike.

The story of Bea’s life is long, complicated, and sad in many ways. She succumbed to Leonard’s narrow, fearful perception of life in every possible way giving up her views on the experience of family. Many times in my relationship with Bea she told me how her only wish was to get back to the sand of Hawaii.

Leonard died in 2016. By that time, Bea was beginning to show signs of dementia. Fortunately, we were able to keep Bea living at home.  By the end of her life, however,  she couldn’t remember our names. The only thing she knew for sure was Linda and I were “people who love me.” (More on this in Bea’s Song.)

I miss Bea very much. There is not a day that goes by where I don’t think of something she said or did or shared with me. But I am utterly grateful for she is back where she always wanted to be, on Heaven’s Golden Sand.