A Birthday Celebration and a celabration of Mary Wilsons life

[RanRan79]

I tried to think of it as not so much an entertainment event for our benefit, but really like a memorial is meant to be, the sharing of thoughts and memories of the person who has passed which is meant to benefit not only those watching but also those doing the presenting. And that way I try to overlook some of the glitches and slow starts.

I cancelled my plans for tonight because it was my intention to treat this as Mary's "homegoing". With no funeral to attend or any other moment to make Mary's passing seem "final", I viewed this as the time to say goodbye. Some of the tech stuff can certainly be overlooked and understood, but talking over folks, interrupting memories...it's hard to ignore. As Al says above, Mary deserved better.

But when weeding through the crap, there's some really great stuff there from the people who have known Mary as far back as the Primettes days. I enjoyed the recollections. I would never expect Diana to participate in such an event, but I sure would like her to maybe do a video where she shares a few memories. Jean and Lynda as well. [[Susaye, and especially Scherrie, have done great video tributes.)

None of Mary's family participating leads me to believe that they are still utterly devastated, as might be expected. When people pass closing in on 80, there's a tendency to think they lived a long life and thus the sadness isn't as thick as it was when, say, Florence passed away. But Mary was so vital up until the end that I suspect even her family didn't see it coming. I'll be praying for them. I know how it feels to lose a vital member of the family unexpectedly.

I'm glad though, that Soulful Detroit offers us fans a place where we can come together in our grief over someone many of us have never even met. I appreciate many of you so much.

[Roberta75]

I cancelled my plans for tonight because it was my intention to treat this as Mary's "homegoing". With no funeral to attend or any other moment to make Mary's passing seem "final", I viewed this as the time to say goodbye. Some of the tech stuff can certainly be overlooked and understood, but talking over folks, interrupting memories...it's hard to ignore. As Al says above, Mary deserved better.

But when weeding through the crap, there's some really great stuff there from the people who have known Mary as far back as the Primettes days. I enjoyed the recollections. I would never expect Diana to participate in such an event, but I sure would like her to maybe do a video where she shares a few memories. Jean and Lynda as well. [[Susaye, and especially Scherrie, have done great video tributes.)

None of Mary's family participating leads me to believe that they are still utterly devastated, as might be expected. When people pass closing in on 80, there's a tendency to think they lived a long life and thus the sadness isn't as thick as it was when, say, Florence passed away. But Mary was so vital up until the end that I suspect even her family didn't see it coming. I'll be praying for them. I know how it feels to lose a vital member of the family unexpectedly.

I'm glad though, that Soulful Detroit offers us fans a place where we can come together in our grief over someone many of us have never even met. I appreciate many of you so much.

Mary was a survivor and deserved a better tribute than this. Mary buried a child which is the absolute worst thing that can happen to any parent. She picked up her life and moved on although you never ever get over losing a child cause its not supposed to happen that way. Im sure Marys family are devastated as im sure they havent seen there Mom and Grandma in almost a year cause of this terrible pandemic which probably makes losing her even more painful. AS a Supremes fan Marys passing has hit us hard as she proudly carried the Supremes torch. Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness now that Marys gone, but in time our memories are filled with smiles and joy as we remember her.Shes with the Lord now and singing with the most amazing heavenly choir.