Thursday, October 12, 2023
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One Tuesday Oct. 10th, 2023, we laid to rest one of my best friends. It was far too soon. Cancer took Marisol Gomez-Mena away on October 5, 2023.
Marisol (Mari) and I met in high school and quickly became fast friends.
Her sense of humor was incomparable. At the breakfast or lunch table, Mari would have all of us in stitches in no time. Whether it was her self-deprecating humor about her math phobia or her stories about ‘crushes’, she always knew how to find the funny spin in any situation. She really could have had an alternate career as a stand-up comic.
We enjoyed being teammates on our high school volleyball and tennis teams. In fact, it was Marisol who encouraged me to join the tennis team. I had never in my life played tennis, but she spoke of how supportive and welcoming the coaches were for any student who wanted to learn how to play. What a gift that was. We all had many fun adventures playing together.
She loved her family dearly. She enjoyed having her mom Nelly and her dad Hector visit her in Staten Island, but she loved even more when she got the opportunity to go see them in Puerto Rico. She was a best friend to her cousins Olga and Sylvia and to her sister Milly. Her three boys, Brandon, Matthew, and Justin, and her husband Joe were the light of her life. She loved “feeding her troops” and making them their favorite meals. Her beagle Riley was a later addition to her family. She called him her buddy and her constant companion. His unconditional love, especially when she wasn’t feeling well, was so welcome.
With our other high school bestie, Georgina, we loved to get together around the holidays when I could be back in the city. Mari would make us a fantastic spread of pernil, arroz con guandules, macaroni salad, lasagna, mollejitas en escabeche, you name it. And her coquito was unrivaled; no other coquito will ever taste as good to me. We always had a blast being together. One year, when Mari and Joe lived in Westchester, she brought out the güiro, maracas, and tambourines and we had the best parranda!! I can only imagine what the downstairs neighbors thought was going on that evening!
I was a bridesmaid at Marisol’s wedding. By the time I got married, I didn’t really do the ‘official’ bridesmaid thing, but she was essentially an acting bridesmaid for me on that day. And, I so appreciated the herculean effort she made to come to the North Country for my wedding. She enlisted the help of her cousin Olga to be able make her way up to the North Country with Georgina, despite having three young boys to care for. And was I so glad she came. I will forever remember her dancing the night away at the reception!
Marisol loved Elvis Presley. She was such a huge fan of his music. She was an old soul that way.
Marisol loved reading and would devour any book you put in front of her in no time. It is this love of reading that helped keep us connected during the pandemic. We exchanged books we enjoyed and did a couple of “Zoom Book Club” meetings to chat. I treasure those moments. I have not yet read the last book she exchanged with me. I don’t know when I might do so, knowing that there will be no other book suggestions coming from her.
Her cancer diagnosis was a gut-punch to all of us who knew and loved her. The only light in this sadness is that she is no longer in pain.
Life will go on, but I will never forget you, dear friend. Whenever I hear a song by Elvis Presley, I will think of you. And, whenever anything causes me to have a good old belly laugh, you know, the kind that brings tears to one's eyes, I will always think of you, my friend.
Rest in peace, Marisol Gomez-Mena. The world is a little less fun without you in it.
(718) 761-5544 | 
matthewfh@matthewfuneralhome.com | 
2508 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, NY 10314
(718) 761-5544
matthewfh@matthewfuneralhome.com