My amazing Mom

Milla with my daughter, Sarah in 1987


Today, my Mom would have been 78.
In 1998, my mother Milla died at age 68 in 1998 from a brain tumor. She was very sick for a year and I took care of her almost everyday. She was smart and beautiful.
Here are 10 amazing things about my Mom.
1. Milla was born in Serbia (Yugoslavia) in 1928. We really don't know if it was 1928 or 29 because the records were lost due to WW2. She didn't know her father... but we heard he was French.
2. Mom attended a convent school because of the war. She had also been forced to work on railroads with an organized group of kids during the war "effort".
3. Mom studied to be a doctor around 1948-52. She worked as a radiologist and nearly all of her colleagues were male. There were not many career women in 1950.
4. Milla was on the Yugoslav Olympic team in Helsinki Finland, in 1952.
5. At age 27, my Mom met my Dad, (Otto, an American with Norwegian parents). They were both on vacation on the coast of Croatia. They married within 10 days and settled in New Jersey, USA. They were married fror 42 years!
6. Milla and Otto had 3 children. My brother Rick in 1957, Nina (me!) in 1958, and my other brother John in 1963.
7. In 1964, we all moved to England for 10 years. We moved back to the USA in 1974. Milla loved playing bridge, travel, and was a "master knitter". She loved the city, especially London, England.
8. Mom was friendly, cheerful and affectionate. She loved colorful clothing.
She only had one grandchild, Sarah who is my daughter.
9. My Mom never worked as a radiologist again. She enjoyed being a home maker and mother of 3.
10. I still miss her terribly. She is buried alongside my Dad in Fairbanks Alaska, near to where my 2 brothers live. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM.