Ideas for Remembering Loved Ones
December 16, 2022
Aaron Hirschhorn
January 24, 2023
Erika Whitmore Godwin
Until We Meet Again6/5/1970 - 5/30/2002
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- Erika sweet now and forever this sweet
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- A newborn Erika, so fat. Me at 20!
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- My father, Erika’s “Poppy,” Cousin Tracy on Left, and Erika mad that Tracy is sharing chair with HER Poppy
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- Erika with her dog, King
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- Erika at 2 years old in a little wading pool
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- Erika at 2. God, she was always so happy and sweet, even at 32!
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- Erika and me getting ready to go to a birthday party. She LOVED that dress.
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- Erika with her Poppy watching the dolphins at Sea World. Look how she’s concentrating.
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- rika and my brother, Steven, Christmas morning. Her coat was waaaaaay too big, and we all laughed!
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- his would be Erika at 6 months and me. I made our matching outfits. If this isn’t a classic 60s look, I don’t know what is.
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- David Allen and Erika. I love this photo because it looks like there is a halo over Erika’s head.
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- Erika all ready for trick or treating. I made that outfit for her, and she loved it. Such a cute face.
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- Erika and me after a family training we took together. We are holding our family affirmation. This was an incredible And meaningful experience we shared together.
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- This is three generations: Erika at 13, my mother (Erika called her “Nanny”), and me.
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- Susan’s family at Christmas. Brandy (our Lhasa Apso being held by Erika), Erika in her 20s, Wendell (Erika’s dad), Poppy (Erika’s grandfather and Susan’s father), Me (Susan), Denice (sister-in-law), Steven (Susan’s brother), Christopher (nephew), and Nanny (Susan’s mother and Erika’s grandmother)
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- rika at a party in Canada where she lived with her beloved, Sandy Godwin. We love this photo because it epitomizes some of the things Erika loved most: a sunburned nose means she was out in the water all day, a huge smile means she’s happy, and a glass of wine means she’s partying, all things she loved.
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- Erika, Nanny, Wendell, and Susan in Canada visiting her and Sandy for the first time since she moved there.
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- endell and Erika at her high school graduation from Palisades High School, Pacific Palisades, California. 1988.
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- Me and Erika at a black tie event. How ironic is this? This was a black tie affair for a nonprofit we supported that raised money for children with cancer. Little did we know one day she would have cancer.
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- Erika and Sandy in their backyard in Canada.
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- Me, Wendell, Nanny, Sandy, and Erika on our first visit to Canada.
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- Cat Baloo! Erika and Sandy’s beloved cat. Sandy still has Baloo.
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- Steven and Didi on the far right with some of Erika’s and Sandy’s closest friends in Canada. This was after Erika died. All of these people flew to California to attend the memorial service for Erika. We will never forget that they did something so thoughtful.
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- Erika, Brandy, Poppy, me, Nanny, and Wendell (I don’t know who took the photo). Erika was in high school here.
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- Joanna Hirsch and Erika on vacation with us in the boat. They were both 15 years old.
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- Me and Erika in her backyard in Canada. She was SO happy there.
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- Tannis and Erika at party in Canada. Tannis was Erika’s best friend. Tannis now lives in Australia and stays in touch with us regularly.
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- Me, Nanny, Erika at the door of Erika’s house in Canada. Again, our first visit.
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- Erika all tan and in Mexico with Sandy. They drove all of the way to Cabo San Lucas because Erika wanted Sandy to experience the drive.
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- Erika dancing at her birthday party when she turned 25. She loved to dance, and she was a great dancer.
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- Erika in Hawaii with us in 1998. She was 28. Beautiful photo.
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- Sandy, Erika, Nanny, Wendell, and me in Sandy’s boat docked in the back of their house in Canada. It was a gorgeous day in Sidney, Canada, and we spent the day in the boat feeding the eagles!
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- Erika in Tahiti with Sandy, me, and Wendell. She LOVED this trip! Erika was a water girl for sure. She swam with the sharks on this trip.
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- Sandy and Erika on our deck after they got married.
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- Erika and me. I graduated from college, well, later in life, and Erika cried and cried when I walked by to get my diploma. She was so proud of me and said that I “inspired her.”
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- Sandy and Erika on Santa Monica Beach the first time she brought him home to meet “the family.”
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- Nanny and Erika in Hawaii. Erika loved her Nanny SO much!
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- Erika feeding geese in Vicki’s backyard in Canada. Vicki is Sandy’s mother, Erika’s mother-in-law.
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- Erika pretty and smiling. She was in her 20s here.
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- One of Erika’s closest friends, Grace, got married this day to Greg, and this is Erika in her bridesmaid dress.
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- Erika in bridesmaid dress (close-up of other photo).
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- Nanny, me, Wendell, and Erika in front of waterfall in Canada. It was FREEZING!
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- Sandy (Erika’s husband) jumping off of cliff in Canada! Can you believe this cool photo?
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- Beautiful, stunning, and gorgeous Erika, our beautiful child inside and out.
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- Erika and Sandy getting married in Canada. Look at the cute grin and happiness on her face. Think she and Sandy were just a little in love? HA! See the minister holding that phone? That would be me and Wendell listening in on that telephone.
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- Erika and Sandy getting married in Canada AFTER she finished all of her treatment. Her hair was just growing back, and she was just told that week that all of her cancer was gone. She was SO happy.
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- Erika had a wonderful and unique sense of humor. She could make anyone crack up at the drop of a hat. Erika’s nickname was “Sugarbee.” Sandy gave her that name, and it was her email address name as well. So my mother found these sugar bee slippers and bought them for Erika.
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- Erika in Canada with Sandy. They were camping. Sandy calls this picture “The Girl With No Hands.” HA!
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- Erika, Sandy, Wendell, and me swimming in Kona with the dolphins. This was one of Erika’s final wishes. I know this photo is sad to see-it’s sad for me, too. But this was an important day for her, for it was one of the last things she really wanted to do, and I’m so glad we were able to do it with her. Ugh.
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- Sandy and Erika with the dolphin. Look at that smile that was still there. She was always such a trooper and fighter. She LOVED life!
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- Grace and Greg, Erika’s good friends in Los Angeles, went to the beach and drew this in the sand for Erika and Sandy. We took this photo and had it made huge and framed it. It hung on Erika’s wall, and we still have it tucked safely away.
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- Rabbi Steven Reuben, Erika, and Sandy in our backyard after they got married. This was just before she started chemo. Erika was so happy this day because she married Sandy.
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- A block we had made for Erika on Swarthmore Avenue in the village where we live. The street is lined with these blocks that people have made, and Erika always wanted us to have one.
Read Poetry by Erika Whitmore Godwin
A Poem Written By Erika To Her Mom
A Note to My Mom
by Erika Whitmore GodwinOne of the best things we can do in
Our lives is this:
Begin again
Begin to see yourself as you were
When you were the happiest
And strongest
Begin to remember what worked
For you
And what worked
Against you
Try to capture the magic again
Begin to remember how natural it was
When you were a child
-- To live a lifetime each day
Begin to release the baggage
Carried with you for years,
The problems that don't matter anymore,
The tears that cried themselves
Away
And the worries that will wash away
On the shore of tomorrow's new beginning
Tomorrow tells us it will be here
Every new day of our lives
And, if we will be wise
We will turn away from the problems of the past
And give the future -- and ourselves -- a chance
To become the best of friends
Sometimes all it takes
Is a wish in the heart
To let yourself
Begin again
Marriage
by Erika Whitmore Godwin
I want the ceremony. I want the white dress.
I want to stand barefoot by the ocean, with flowers in my hair.
I have planned this day since I was a little girl.
I've played marriage with my friends -- making veils out of scarfs.
I've rehearsed.
Why is marriage important?
Have we been manipulated by society to feel incomplete without this?
Possibly. Does this change my desire?
No.
I want the ceremony. I want the white dress.
I want to stand barefoot by the ocean, with flowers in my hair.
I have planned this day since I was a little girl.
I've played marriage with my friends -- making veils out of scarfs.
I've rehearsed.
Why is marriage important?
Have we been manipulated by society to feel incomplete without this?
Possibly. Does this change my desire?
No.
Oh, Sandy!
by Erika Whitmore Godwin
You're so handy
Macgyver could be your name
If only you would stop playing
That damn
Video game
You're so handy
Macgyver could be your name
If only you would stop playing
That damn
Video game
A Poem Written By Erika To Poppy
To Poppy
By Erika Sue WhitmoreI always thought you would be here
To protect and comfort me with your warmth and vibrancy
To surround me with your strong arms and say,
"How's my Erika Sue with eyes of blue?"
To bang pots and pans with on New Year's Eve,
Have peanut butter and bacon sandwiches
and waffles and ice cream,
To fall asleep with the game on T.V.,
To give me big bear hugs and say,
"Hold your breath, are you ready?"
And squeeze me tight,
To carve the turkey on Thanksgiving,
To sit on your lap and listen to you talk about the
teenager you beat in tennis,
To see me marry,
To give my children what I had in you.
But, Poppy, you are here,
You will always be near,
Your love made me love,
Your strength made me laugh,
You are alive inside of me.
Your cancer brought you darkness and pain
How alone you must have felt.
I wanted to eat the clouds and stop the rain,
To see you laugh again, love again, live life again,
To be with me again.
But now your darkness is gone,
You now walk in beauty and light
In love and laughter.
There's no more rain in sight.
Nanny
by Erika Whitmore Godwin
You backpack through Maine
My knees ache in the rain
I'll spend my time sipping wine
Where it's always summertime
Dancing?
The music's too loud
I get confused in a crowd
Besides, my leather pants are too tight now, dear
They get tighter year after year
Playing in the waters of Greece?
Please, just give me some peace
Don't be a dummy
Go away, and let me play Gin Rummy
Skiing through the snow?
Oh my heaven's, no!
You must be crazy
I'll get lost
My memory's too hazy
Be a good girl now, and let me be
I've had my time
I'm no longer 23
*Inspired by Hillside Mall*
poem to be graded
You backpack through Maine
My knees ache in the rain
I'll spend my time sipping wine
Where it's always summertime
Dancing?
The music's too loud
I get confused in a crowd
Besides, my leather pants are too tight now, dear
They get tighter year after year
Playing in the waters of Greece?
Please, just give me some peace
Don't be a dummy
Go away, and let me play Gin Rummy
Skiing through the snow?
Oh my heaven's, no!
You must be crazy
I'll get lost
My memory's too hazy
Be a good girl now, and let me be
I've had my time
I'm no longer 23
*Inspired by Hillside Mall*
poem to be graded
Book Love
by Erika Whitmore Godwin
Bounded and raw
His mind in my bed
Pages to turn
New journey's ahead
His stories are my escape
Leading me beyond
My realm of existence
To live his new song
Bounded and raw
His mind in my bed
Pages to turn
New journey's ahead
His stories are my escape
Leading me beyond
My realm of existence
To live his new song
Moorea
by Erika Whitmore Godwin
Here, sun dancers have burned their song
Into the sky
Shaking their sun kissed hips
To the wild rhythm of
Native drums
Here, tigers of the sea
Gently eat out of our hands
Gracefully they glide
Sharing with us their kingdom
Here, passion lies in the fruit
Ripe and full
Calling to us
Offering their sweet liquor
Here, I float with the fish
Topless in paradise
Here, sun dancers have burned their song
Into the sky
Shaking their sun kissed hips
To the wild rhythm of
Native drums
Here, tigers of the sea
Gently eat out of our hands
Gracefully they glide
Sharing with us their kingdom
Here, passion lies in the fruit
Ripe and full
Calling to us
Offering their sweet liquor
Here, I float with the fish
Topless in paradise
Bikini Summer
by Erika Whitmore Godwin
Bread and chocolate
swept away from
the house
of fad diets. I
am unsatiated. My
mind is set
on losing the
excess. I will
be first-class
in a bikini
rewarded by sacrifice
ready for summer.
Bread and chocolate
swept away from
the house
of fad diets. I
am unsatiated. My
mind is set
on losing the
excess. I will
be first-class
in a bikini
rewarded by sacrifice
ready for summer.
Laughter
by Erika Whitmore Godwin
Stand on your head, you funny face
Your jokes will work on me!
For, I can always laugh
A reason's all I need
A quiet room
A serious mood
A sudden fall, And off I go! Hahaheehee
Oh, now I must leave
My giggle box opened
I'm uncontrollable, heehee
Stand on your head, you funny face
Your jokes will work on me!
For, I can always laugh
A reason's all I need
A quiet room
A serious mood
A sudden fall, And off I go! Hahaheehee
Oh, now I must leave
My giggle box opened
I'm uncontrollable, heehee
The White Dress
by Erika Whitmore Godwin
I'm a goddess in a white dress
A crowned prom queen
I'll sleep on a bed of roses
Wear diamonds in my hair
And eat only sweet bread
Cinderella's found her glass slipper
I'm a goddess in a white dress
A crowned prom queen
I'll sleep on a bed of roses
Wear diamonds in my hair
And eat only sweet bread
Cinderella's found her glass slipper
Forever
by Erika Whitmore Godwin
I could float out here
With you forever
Sweaty and naked
The sun burning
Into our flesh
Lazy life
Laying back
High on pineapple liqueur
Sharing each other as
The warm salty blue
Splashes droplets
Refreshing us
I could float out here
With you forever
Sweaty and naked
The sun burning
Into our flesh
Lazy life
Laying back
High on pineapple liqueur
Sharing each other as
The warm salty blue
Splashes droplets
Refreshing us
Boring Barroom
by Erika Whitmore Godwin
Noise, Gibberish
La di da
Blah blah
Rings of smoke
Rise up from the crowd
He comes to me
With his 80 proof breath
Leans towards me
Whispers in my ear
La di da
Blah blah
Remnants of his salty sweat
Linger on my cheek
I'm trapped by four walls
Of dancing clowns - all singing
La di da
Blah blah
Noise, Gibberish
La di da
Blah blah
Rings of smoke
Rise up from the crowd
He comes to me
With his 80 proof breath
Leans towards me
Whispers in my ear
La di da
Blah blah
Remnants of his salty sweat
Linger on my cheek
I'm trapped by four walls
Of dancing clowns - all singing
La di da
Blah blah