I too am heartbroken. I will miss, but not forget, my cyber and email buddy.
Continued prayers for her family as they go through this grieving process.
As sad as this is, it's comforting to know that she believed "to die is gain".
God bless you Mary Ann.
What a sad day for us all at HSBBW
I KNOW Mary Ann is in a great place.
For her family:
I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip - He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you - the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm- He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121
I KNOW Mary Ann is in a great place.
For her family:
I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip - He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you - the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm- He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121
The "LOBBY" will never be the same, as we are now missing one of our founding members. The LOBBY is a group of baseball moms who met here on this wonderful site 6 years ago, and formed a special kinship....our self-named acronym stood for "Ladies of BaseBall -- YO!"...and I remember MA getting a chuckle out of that as it made us sound "pretty cool" for a group of moms! 
And thru this group of wonderful moms, Mary Ann was certainly a leader when it came to support and strength thru troubling times for each of us. I consider myself fortunate that I got to spend a wonderful weekend with her and my other LOBBY members in CA, talked with her numerous times on the telephone, and exchanged emails pretty much on a daily basis until her health took a turn for the worse.
In this terribly sad moment, I do find comfort in knowing that Mary Ann had such an incredible faith and I'm sure that knowledge is helping both her family and her friends in mourning her passing. God Bless MA......The LOBBY will miss you. But if I know you....you are already starting a new LOBBY up in heaven.
And thru this group of wonderful moms, Mary Ann was certainly a leader when it came to support and strength thru troubling times for each of us. I consider myself fortunate that I got to spend a wonderful weekend with her and my other LOBBY members in CA, talked with her numerous times on the telephone, and exchanged emails pretty much on a daily basis until her health took a turn for the worse. In this terribly sad moment, I do find comfort in knowing that Mary Ann had such an incredible faith and I'm sure that knowledge is helping both her family and her friends in mourning her passing. God Bless MA......The LOBBY will miss you. But if I know you....you are already starting a new LOBBY up in heaven
.
She was an incredible woman......
I am just empty.
quote:taken away from this community far too soon.
I am just empty.
I just prayed for Mary Ann this morning. Then I turned on the computer to find out this sad news. Continued thoughts and prayers for her family and friends.
Obviously, God needed another Baseball Angel to look over all of us here, new and old posters.
I went back and previewed several of her previous posts. Wow! What a great lady and mother she must have been. As a new member, I will miss her caring insight and gentle advise.
To the family: I know you are greiving and we feel your pain but be blessed in the knowledge that Mary Ann had so many friends.
I went back and previewed several of her previous posts. Wow! What a great lady and mother she must have been. As a new member, I will miss her caring insight and gentle advise.
To the family: I know you are greiving and we feel your pain but be blessed in the knowledge that Mary Ann had so many friends.
What a great place this is, there is no other community on the internet as strong or cares about others like the HSBBW.
I hope that eventually her family comes on to see how much she will be missed, by the Old Timers as well as our new websters. For those who did not know FBM please do a search and read her posts. It will give you an insight as to why we love this place, the game, our players and her faith in God and why baseball moms are special.
My condolances to the entire Shappi family.
TPM
I hope that eventually her family comes on to see how much she will be missed, by the Old Timers as well as our new websters. For those who did not know FBM please do a search and read her posts. It will give you an insight as to why we love this place, the game, our players and her faith in God and why baseball moms are special.
My condolances to the entire Shappi family.
TPM
Dear Friends,
Although I haven't posted in a few years, my son is not playing anymore, I still pop on occasionally to see how the world of HS Baseball is doing.
MaryAnn has been part of my life for many years and Marv and I laugh at the whole 'connection' with other Baseball Mom's. MaryAnn and I were fortunate to actually SEE many of the Mom's we 'met' here in this community.
I promise to print this thread and give it to Marv, AJ, and her Mother. I know they don't realize how many people she has touched over the years here in the baseball family.
I know they appreciate your continued prayers for peace and healing.
Blessings to you all.
Susan aka: CatchMm
Although I haven't posted in a few years, my son is not playing anymore, I still pop on occasionally to see how the world of HS Baseball is doing.
MaryAnn has been part of my life for many years and Marv and I laugh at the whole 'connection' with other Baseball Mom's. MaryAnn and I were fortunate to actually SEE many of the Mom's we 'met' here in this community.
I promise to print this thread and give it to Marv, AJ, and her Mother. I know they don't realize how many people she has touched over the years here in the baseball family.
I know they appreciate your continued prayers for peace and healing.
Blessings to you all.
Susan aka: CatchMm
I am sad to hear this news.
May Peace be with family and friends.
God Bless.
May Peace be with family and friends.
God Bless.
Sad Day...I exchanged a couple of PM's with her recently...and before that, a couple of years ago. I did not know her personally, but we belong to the same "family". She was a tremendous encouragement and a joy to "talk" with in those few short posts.
May the Lord bless you and take good care of you...
May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you...
May He look on you with favor, Shappi's, and give you His peace.
May the Lord bless you and take good care of you...
May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you...
May He look on you with favor, Shappi's, and give you His peace.
I am so saddened by this....Mary Ann, we will miss you terribly....
To Mary Ann's family,
I am so sorry for your loss.
To Mary Ann's family,
I am so sorry for your loss.
Oh God, We are stricken with immense grief at the loss of Mary Ann. We pray to God Almighty for her soul and we express our condolence and prayers to her distressed family. Let the Almighty Lord send his heavenly angels and comfort the agonized family. The loss is great for us, but let us abide in the great purpose God has destined for her in heaven. Let us remember the Mary Ann fondly and warmly,and let our prayers strengthen the family.
Today, as in many days, I struggle with the will of the Master.
Today, as in many days, I struggle with the will of the Master.
I am left at this moment not knowing what to say. I just logged on to see if there was an update on Mary Ann.
Mary Ann and I exchanged emails many times during her battles with health. If there is one thing that I can say I took away from those conversations, it was that she had a faith in God that was powerful and should bring a source of strength to her family at this time. She was never bashful about sharing that faith. She also talked of her husband, son and daughter in law with such joy and pride, that one always had to be touched.
Mary Ann, you will be missed by many more than I'm suspect most of us here will ever know. However, all of us here will certainly know the void you leave behind in your baseball home.
Rest in peace sweet lady.
Mary Ann and I exchanged emails many times during her battles with health. If there is one thing that I can say I took away from those conversations, it was that she had a faith in God that was powerful and should bring a source of strength to her family at this time. She was never bashful about sharing that faith. She also talked of her husband, son and daughter in law with such joy and pride, that one always had to be touched.
Mary Ann, you will be missed by many more than I'm suspect most of us here will ever know. However, all of us here will certainly know the void you leave behind in your baseball home.
Rest in peace sweet lady.
I, too as many others felt a kinship with Mary Ann after reading here sage advice and felt I knew her a little bit because of this. Mine and my family's prayers go out for her family's peace of mind. She was a great lady!
"The players are always the same age, but the man in the bleachers gets older every year."
"The players are always the same age, but the man in the bleachers gets older every year."
Lord, as we mourn the sudden death of Mary Ann, show us the immense power of Your goodness and strengthen our belief that she has entered into Your Presence. Amen
This is a very sad day for me, to say the very least. Mary Ann was outgoing and welcoming to me as we went through the recruiting process, and later on. We corresponded occasionally sharing good baseball days and bad. She was so very rightfully proud of AJ and Katie, both academically and athletically. She did an awesome job as a mom.
Rest In Peace Mary Ann.
John
Rest In Peace Mary Ann.
John
What very sad news..........Our prayers and best wishes for Mary Ann's family through this difficult time and beyond.
I haven't had much chance to visit the website lately, so this caught me as a very sad surprise.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Mary Ann, and her entire family.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Mary Ann, and her entire family.
For me, and I am sure for so very many of us, Mary Ann Shappi, aka FutureBack.Mom, aka HighlanderMom brought rays of baseball sunshine into her posts and our daily discussions of this game that brings us together.
We will miss her but don't think we will forget her affection for the HSBBW, her cyber friends and most of all the love she proudly posted for AJ, his wife, and her husband and family.
My thoughts are with her family for the joy she brought into their lives and my deepest sympathies for their loss
I would imagine FBM might well be working that big GM in heaven for AJ to get that first MLB appearance. Wouldn't that be something?
Would not surprise me a bit.
We will miss her but don't think we will forget her affection for the HSBBW, her cyber friends and most of all the love she proudly posted for AJ, his wife, and her husband and family.
My thoughts are with her family for the joy she brought into their lives and my deepest sympathies for their loss
I would imagine FBM might well be working that big GM in heaven for AJ to get that first MLB appearance. Wouldn't that be something?
Would not surprise me a bit.
My heart aches -- not for Mary Ann, who is now enjoying sweet fellowship with her Savior, but for her family and friends. What a tremendous encouragement she was to so many on this site and elsewhere. May the Lord graciously give His peace which passes understanding to all who grieve her passing.