RoseMary for Remembrance
Donation protected
OUR STORY
Our mother RoseMary was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s eight years ago. In the last couple of years her mental capacity has declined dramatically and she can’t be left alone for more than a few minutes. We have rallied together as a family, with Adam taking care of her 4-5 days a week and more when Stan (our dad) has to travel. Katya drives up from Albuquerque on weekends and during school breaks.
We adore our mother, and would do anything for her, but we are all a bit exhausted. We are hoping to raise funds to pay for a caregiver one to two days a week. We would also like some extra money for body work (acupuncture and massage) and to self-publish her children’s poems. RoseMary gets a meager $300 a month from Social Security, as much of her life’s work was voluntary.
A bit about our favorite person on the planet:
RoseMary was born in Melbourne, grew up outside of Sydney, and left on a ship for London in her early 20s to become a journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald. She went on to work as a publicist for the Rank Organization as well as for the Elizabethan Trust in Sydney. She loves to reminisce about her days at Rank interviewing movie stars such as Michael Caine, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Lauren, Audrey Hepburn and Alfred Hitchcock. She met Stan on Crete and they were married six months later in Athens with Adam in the womb. Adam was born in Ireland, and when he was just 4 months old they set out by ship to New York, drove across the country to San Francisco, and finally to New Mexico, arriving in Dixon in the fall of 1969.
They bought a couple of acres of land along the Rio Embudo, built their adobe house, gave birth to their second child, Katya, and began a life of farming and writing. RoseMary turned to writing and directing plays for nearby schools as a way to share her love of theatre with children in her community. Hundreds of students played parts in her “Mad Kind of Chalupa”, “The Wicked Witch and the Tickle Monster” and “Never Say Never” at Dixon Elementary and Peñasco Elementary. She wrote a series of sketches for Las Cruces Alternative High School, which were also performed at Northern New Mexico Community College, both in which Katya participated. One of the sketches, “The Revolutionaries,” won a place in the Santa Fe Community Theater’s annual Benchwarmers competition, as did a short play she wrote for the competition, “The Anniversary.” In addition to writing plays, RoseMary starred in “The Belle of Amherst,” “’Night Mother,” “The Mad Woman of Chaillot,” “I Rise in Flames Cried the Phoenix,” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” at the Taos Community Auditorium. She has entertained generations of young students with her witty, colorful poetry. One former student actor from Las Cruces Alternative High School (who has since become a well-known sculptor) once said to Katya, “Tell your mother she changed my life.”
Most of RoseMary’s long life has been devoted to serving—and entertaining—and feeding—others and changing their lives. It is not uncommon for some middle-aged person to walk up to her and announce “You may not remember me, but I was your Bear.” Or Rabbit. Or Wise Old Elf. In 2012, Stan and RoseMary received the Living Treasures Award for their life-long contributions to the community.
The difficult phase
RoseMary has reached that difficult phase in her life where she now needs many of us to help her through the day. So we’re calling on all those former Rabbits, Wise Old Elves, Witches, Tickle Monsters, Gum Chewers, Sad Bears, etc., and those many others who savored her work as a playwright, poet, actor, mother to all and friend, to remember how RoseMary once stimulated and even changed your lives….
HOW YOU CAN HELP
1. Share our story on social media with a personal message
2. Donate what you can to this GoFundMe page
3. Let RM know she is loved with a post card (P.0. Box 56 Dixon, NM 87527)
GRATITUDE
Our family is small, but our community across the globe is huge. Thank you all for your love and support through this difficult journey. Much love and gratitude from the Crawford Clan.
Our mother RoseMary was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s eight years ago. In the last couple of years her mental capacity has declined dramatically and she can’t be left alone for more than a few minutes. We have rallied together as a family, with Adam taking care of her 4-5 days a week and more when Stan (our dad) has to travel. Katya drives up from Albuquerque on weekends and during school breaks.
We adore our mother, and would do anything for her, but we are all a bit exhausted. We are hoping to raise funds to pay for a caregiver one to two days a week. We would also like some extra money for body work (acupuncture and massage) and to self-publish her children’s poems. RoseMary gets a meager $300 a month from Social Security, as much of her life’s work was voluntary.
A bit about our favorite person on the planet:
RoseMary was born in Melbourne, grew up outside of Sydney, and left on a ship for London in her early 20s to become a journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald. She went on to work as a publicist for the Rank Organization as well as for the Elizabethan Trust in Sydney. She loves to reminisce about her days at Rank interviewing movie stars such as Michael Caine, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Lauren, Audrey Hepburn and Alfred Hitchcock. She met Stan on Crete and they were married six months later in Athens with Adam in the womb. Adam was born in Ireland, and when he was just 4 months old they set out by ship to New York, drove across the country to San Francisco, and finally to New Mexico, arriving in Dixon in the fall of 1969.
They bought a couple of acres of land along the Rio Embudo, built their adobe house, gave birth to their second child, Katya, and began a life of farming and writing. RoseMary turned to writing and directing plays for nearby schools as a way to share her love of theatre with children in her community. Hundreds of students played parts in her “Mad Kind of Chalupa”, “The Wicked Witch and the Tickle Monster” and “Never Say Never” at Dixon Elementary and Peñasco Elementary. She wrote a series of sketches for Las Cruces Alternative High School, which were also performed at Northern New Mexico Community College, both in which Katya participated. One of the sketches, “The Revolutionaries,” won a place in the Santa Fe Community Theater’s annual Benchwarmers competition, as did a short play she wrote for the competition, “The Anniversary.” In addition to writing plays, RoseMary starred in “The Belle of Amherst,” “’Night Mother,” “The Mad Woman of Chaillot,” “I Rise in Flames Cried the Phoenix,” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” at the Taos Community Auditorium. She has entertained generations of young students with her witty, colorful poetry. One former student actor from Las Cruces Alternative High School (who has since become a well-known sculptor) once said to Katya, “Tell your mother she changed my life.”
Most of RoseMary’s long life has been devoted to serving—and entertaining—and feeding—others and changing their lives. It is not uncommon for some middle-aged person to walk up to her and announce “You may not remember me, but I was your Bear.” Or Rabbit. Or Wise Old Elf. In 2012, Stan and RoseMary received the Living Treasures Award for their life-long contributions to the community.
The difficult phase
RoseMary has reached that difficult phase in her life where she now needs many of us to help her through the day. So we’re calling on all those former Rabbits, Wise Old Elves, Witches, Tickle Monsters, Gum Chewers, Sad Bears, etc., and those many others who savored her work as a playwright, poet, actor, mother to all and friend, to remember how RoseMary once stimulated and even changed your lives….
HOW YOU CAN HELP
1. Share our story on social media with a personal message
2. Donate what you can to this GoFundMe page
3. Let RM know she is loved with a post card (P.0. Box 56 Dixon, NM 87527)
GRATITUDE
Our family is small, but our community across the globe is huge. Thank you all for your love and support through this difficult journey. Much love and gratitude from the Crawford Clan.
Organizer
Katya Crawford
Organizer
Albuquerque, NM