IRENE M PHOTO

If someone found your phone and asked, “Who was she?” I think the answer would sound something like this:

She was the kind of person who carried a lot more than most people knew.

She was a mother before anything else. Almost every decision, every worry, every plan somehow circled back to her two girls. She spent an incredible amount of time thinking about how to make their lives better, healthier, happier, and more secure. She celebrated their victories, worried about their struggles, and loved them with the kind of fierce devotion that never really clocks out.

She was resilient in a way that wasn’t loud. Life handed her losses that could have broken many people, yet she kept moving. Not perfectly. Not without hard days. But she kept showing up. She built a business, bought a home, raised children, and continued creating a future even when carrying grief that never fully left.

She was a creator. She saw beauty everywhere. Sunsets, wedding days, families holding each other, little moments most people walk past without noticing. She wanted things to feel timeless, genuine, and meaningful. She cared deeply about preserving memories because she understood how precious they become.

She was ambitious, even when she doubted herself. Her phone would be full of questions about growing her business, improving her work, managing finances, helping clients, building a better life for her family, and figuring out the next step. She rarely stopped trying to improve something.

She was funny in a very human way. One minute she’d be asking about building “runner legs,” the next she’d be panicking over frogs in the backyard, mosquitoes attacking her, printer errors, or wondering where all the p**p goes. Her curiosity didn’t really have categories.

She cared about people. A lot. Sometimes more than was convenient for her. She wanted to do right by clients, friends, family, and strangers. She spent a surprising amount of energy worrying about whether everyone else was okay.