Deborah was born in Miami-Dade county on February 10th 1958.

 

When she was a girl, she and her family relocated to New York, eventually settling in Astoria. The transition was originally difficult for her and she would sometimes tell stories of how her clothes, shoes and accent were different, how the schools were different and how the children were used to playing different games. In retrospect, I think some of this difficulty "fitting in" is what made her so special as she took special pains to always make sure people felt welcome 

 

Additionally, she was asked to help take care of her siblings so it's fair to say she has always been the type to shoulder a great deal of responsibility, yet always did it with love and devotion. 

 

She eventually dropped out of high school and began working shifts at a Diner to help with the household bills. Along the way she fell in love with another teenager named Richard, and met someone who would be her best friend for life, Grace. 

 

In 1978, at 19 years old, she had her first son, Richie. At 20 she had her second son, Daniel and at 23, her final son Jonathan. 

 

Despite coming from meager roots and continuing to waitress to help make ends meet, her children wanted for nothing. Christmases were spectacular affairs filled with all of the traditions she loved, as well as those that she always wanted but never had a chance to do. She and Richard gave their children magic, wonder and an endless supply of love. 

 

Each Halloween costume was tailored with a mother's touch and whatever couldn't be bought was made with the creative artistry of a 5th Avenue Designer (who needs the expensive Optimum Prime costume when you could secretly pain milk cartons red and blue while the children slept?). She loved Halloween almost as much as her children and each year would take out her famous black witches' gown and hat with glee as the days grew colder. 

 

Thanksgivings started at 5am with her cheerfully singing in the kitchen, Easter was filled with the tradition of dying and hiding eggs for her children to find the next morning and each of her children were spoiled in their own little way. There was never any copying, never any duplicate efforts. Her children couldn't be more different and so her efforts, gifts, and miracles were tailored specifically for that child. Birthdays were over-the-top celebrations, first-day-of-schools came individually packed notes and individual trips to McDonalds. She took school trips very seriously and would be the first parent to sign the permission slip, and take the lucky son out the night before to the local deli for their favorite sandwich and snack of choice. 

 

As her children grew, Deborah wanted to be more than a waitress, and at the urging of a friend decided to apply to a government job. She got her GED and nervously completed an application that she was eventually approved for and she began to work for the US Customs Office by JFK. 

 

With each year, life got easier and by the time her children were all teenagers, she lived in a two-story house in Forest Hills. Her children each had their own room (perfect for storming teenagers in puberty) and she continued to give everything she could so that her children could have everything she didn't. Each of them attended a private high school and at each graduation, she was the one crying, jumping up and down yelling and screaming with the most energy. 

 

In her professional life, she gave everything to her job and was promoted several times - eventually managing an entire department of Seized Property in Homeland Security office of JFK. She retired early on disability due to a knee injury and found and embraced several hobbies to keep her busy, such as reading, watching crime and murder documentaries, taking care of an endless bevy of cats, trying new recipes and even getting into video games. 

 

She and Richard divorced and though she had a few relationships after their divorce, she would sometimes share she preferred to be alone. When her children all grew up and found houses of their own, she decided to consolidate and after moving to various places within Queens and Long Island, she fulfilled one of her biggest dreams and moved to a small town named Ellenville in New York, so that she could purchase her first house. She was so proud and would gladly chat with any local in Ellenville how excited she was to purchase her first house. 

 

In her retirement, she rediscovered some of her past hobbies, rekindled old friendships and continued to have her home by a warm beacon and safe haven for her children and loved ones. She kept all of our Christmas traditions, even when a majority of the children turned 40. She loved nothing more than having a wonderful meal (her cooking it of course) while her sons and daughters squeezed into her dining room table, being stuffed until they couldn't move and then laden down with leftovers when the time came for everyone to go home. 

 

She never stopped being a sounding board, referee in family fights, a shoulder to cry on, or the one person in the world who knew you more than you knew yourself. She knew exactly what to say and how to say it and we were all so happy when we saw her light up with newfound energy at being a grandmother Or, more aptly, "Gamma"

 

She was diagnosed with Cancer in November of 2020 and she, her sons and her family rallied around her - up until her last day on earth, April 11th of 2021. 

 

Deborah was our mother, though everyone who knows her knows her preferred name was Momma Space and we will miss her beyond whatever words can be said. She will be missed by her sons, Richard, Daniel and Jonathan, and her daughters, Marisabel and Michelle. She will be missed by her one and only husband, Richard, as well as his wife and our other mother Marie, and Marie's daughter, and our sister Nicole. Her stories, her magic and her love for life and cooking will be passed to her grandchildren Wesley and Parker. 

 

The pain of her absence will be felt by her sisters, Tina, Candy and Cindy as well as her nephews and nieces: Billy, Chrissy, Eliana, Shannon, Meghan and Amber, and their families, who she treated as her own. 

 

She will be mourned keenly by her dearest friends, Gracie, Marie and Mike and by family, friends and everything in between all over the world who had the fortune to be blessed by knowing this incredible woman. 

 

To all of you who were here friends, her family, her closest people, we share in this grief with you, and if you were not mentioned by name, it is only out of grief and not intention, but know that the love you bore our mother will be felt with us, and that we will do her legacy right as we now walk this earth without her. 

 

Deborah, our mother, our friend, our family, our everything - we will miss you, and the world will never be the same without you.