Mary Elizabeth Greenwood-Mason
"I promise you there is something worse out there than being sad, and that's being alone
and being sad. Ain't no one in this room alone."
- Ted Lasso
Meg Mason was born Mary Elizabeth Greenwood in New York, NY on March 16th, 1953. She passed away on her 70th birthday, March 16th, 2023, at her home in Port Townsend, WA.
After a diagnosis of Stage 4 Esophageal Cancer in August, 2022, Meg maintained her sense of humor and positive spirit up to the end, despite the toll the cancer took on her physically.
She was so many things - someone who wholeheartedly did anything for those she cared about; a visionary creator who fondly remembered her first teacher telling her she had the hands of an artist; an animal lover with devoted dogs; an equestrian; a rough water swimmer - no water was too extreme or too cold; an exceptional cook; a strong-willed, competitive, hardworking and fun-loving woman. She always had a project and a checklist she was working on and would rope everyone around her into joining. She seemingly had endless amounts of energy and was continuously and joyously helping others, designing and working in her garden and beloved house, or spending time with her many close friends. She would help finish the first bottle of wine and encourage you to open the second. She was a card shark who liked to win, and usually did. She was a nature lover with bird feeders at every window. She loved to laugh and make others around her laugh and take themselves a little less seriously.
Meg loved nothing more than being a mom and she was amazing at it. When her two daughters, Laura and Andrea were young, she devoted her time and energy into having fun with and supporting them. As young kids she would take them on beach adventures, do art projects with them, and support them as they grew up riding horses. As adults, they remained very close and all loved to spend time together.
Esophageal cancer took away her ability to eat and enjoy food in the last few months of her life. She wanted nothing more than to be able to sit down to a lovingly prepared, delicious meal with her favorite people. She would quip about why she had to have a form of cancer that prevented her from eating when there were so many other illnesses she could have been diagnosed with that would still allow that pleasure. She would want all of us to enjoy and savor our favorite meal and to think of her.
She tackled her last months with the thorough tenacity she brought to the rest of her life. She enjoyed all the moments she could with those she loved and continued to do projects and help others around her up until her body rendered her unable. Her final days were still filled with “Meg jokes” and requests to be wheeled in front of the fridge so she could look at the food inside and imagine eating it.
She watched the first episode of the newest Ted Lasso season (twice), a show she loved so very much. It felt disorienting to be laughing amidst the weight of knowing she would be gone soon, but that is who she was and how she wanted it to be and one of the many things we miss about her.
She is remembered and deeply missed by her two daughters and their father Doug Mason, her son-in-law, four brothers: Chris and Tom Greenwood and Archie and Bill Merwin, her sister Stancy Merwin, nieces and nephews, countless friends and a community she loved so much, and in turn loved her.
