My mother-in-law, Otilia Madrid

My 100 year old mother-in-law passed away a little more than a week ago and her funeral was yesterday. Family and friends came to the church in Costa Mesa that she attended for almost 50 years and where Mike and I were married 40 years ago. She led a full, rich life, sustained by her Catholic faith, and her 4 children, spouses, grand-children and great-granchild were there to say good-bye. She arrived in Los Angeles in the late 1920's and met and married my father-in-law, Max. Some of the photos that were passed around after the funeral show what a dapper couple they were and one can only imagine what living in L.A. in the 20's and 30's must have been like. Before the children started arriving they lived in Echo Park and every photograph shows them "dressed to the nines." I've posted one photo that my mother-in-law sent to her future husband the year they were married. It's dated January 10, 1928 and we all agreed that she looks like a silent film star...the first of many drama queens in the Madrid family! Her name was Otilia Madrid and she was a wonderful woman and the perfect mother-in-law; she never meddled or criticized, she loved us all unconditionally, and we were all her little angels.