TAKAMI Martina Mieko died August 6, 2015, age 30. Our Tina was funny, so smart, sensitive, generous, and protective of others. Stunning, artistic, and athletic, she ran like a gazelle, she wore clothes beautifully and had a strong personal presence.
Magnetic and lovable though Tina was, she was dealt the miserable hand of mental illness and drug addiction together. Tina was tough and fierce- she fought hard for 16 years, but was finally towed under by the too often lethal combination of psychiatric and sustance use disorders. In the end, she took her own life.
Our beloved princess of power is gone and the world is forever different for her loving friends and family left behind: her brother Tyrone; cousins Erin, Colin, Emma, Kate, Emiko, Ben, Lindsay, Yoshi, Sanae, Takao, Mateo; aunts, uncles, and senior cousins Fran & Andrew, Marc & Anne, Mimi& Kathy, Mark & Cindy, Julie & Rich, Wendy & Bill, David & Suzu, Tachi & Leslie, Bruce, David, John Eliot, all the Cullens and Ciullas. And her found family: Leslie, Tony, Adri, Katie, Ivan, Tiffany, Krista… and Gus. She also leaves behind her mother Deirdre Coltrera and her father Jonathan Takami. A memorial bench on the West End of Portland ME is planned and a GoFundMe page has been started for it: (gofundme.com/xhts56zc). Alternatively , please consider gifts to the National Alliance on Mental Illnesss/ NAMI (nami.org) and the Co-Occurring Collaborative Serving Maine (ccsme.org). No service is yet planned by the family.