Retirement (January 2010 to the present)

In 2010, at the age of 65, Sandra retired from her seven years of employment at the Parents Center.  She hoped to spend more time working on her spiritual development, to attend classes on the Bhaga agita, and with her family and friends from Mt. Madonna.

Sandra attended David’s wedding to Sandra’s college friend, Stephanie Polowe, on June 5, 2014.  

Sandra flew to Rochester New York and joined David and Stevie on their drive to Ontario where they attended David and Maureen’s daughter, Caroline’s, wedding to Joe Murray on October 2, 2015.  Afterward, on our way back to Rochester, we visited Niagara Falls, where the photo below was taken at the base of the tower that overlooks the falls. The photo that follows that is of Sandra and Stevie at the look-out pod at the top of the tower.

Especially following Sandra’s retirement in 2010, she was able to see more of Leif and Luke and their families, and help facilitate their relationships with their respective fathers. Leif had formed a relationship with Becky Adams (born January 11, 1984), and on January 26, 2012, Becky gave birth to Leif’s daughter, Lily Anne Kubina, pictured below, with Leif.

Lily was a delight to Sandra and Peter both, and Peter especially enjoyed teaching Lily how to paint.

Sandra’s son Luke met and later married Katherine Crotta (born July 20, 1995). On October 7, 2018, Katherine gave birth to their daughter Charlie Maura, and on October 25, 2021, she gave birth to a second daughter, Goldie Grace Maura.

Peter, who lived in a shack on an industrial lot, was diagnosed with stage 4 bladder cancer in 2014. He underwent a colostomy but continued to drive his cab.  One of his paintings depicted himself and his cab.

Sandra visited Peter periodically to take him to lunch and to doctor’s appointments. She began helping Peter to organize the art stored on his computer, comprising some 40,000 images.  She brought Leif to visit his father, to give them both an opportunity to address their respective disappointments and improve their relationship with each other in the last days before Peter’s death on July 14, 2016.  

In 2016, Pat was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. She continued to live life to the fullest. Pat and Sandra drove to Las Vegas and saw a show there.

From January 6 to 14, 2017, David and Stephanie flew to California for Sandra’s 72nd birthday and to visit Pat in Sausalito.  Pat died on February 17, 2017, and the family attended a memorial service for her in March.

Pat left $150,000 to Sandra in her Will.  She wanted Sandra to use some of the money for something she wanted to do.  Sandra used about $5,000 of the money, after repairing the roof and balcony of her house, to travel to India in 2018, staying at the Ayurvedagram Health Center in Bangalore, India.  For two weeks, she received an ayurvedic massage, dined on prescribed foods communally, attended performances of Indian music, played chess, e-mailed to Livy Merchant, who shared Sandra’s interest in ayurvedic medicine, made trips to local temples, and then stayed for an additional week to relax, read, reflect, and enjoy the environment.

In the third major loss in as many years, Baba Hari Dass died peacefully on 25 September 2018, at the age of 95, in Bonny Doon, near Santa Cruz, California.  He had kept his vow of perpetual silence in 1952, at the age of 25. Sandra kept in contact with some of Baba Ji’s devotees, including Mandira, pictured below, whom she continued to see periodically.

Sandra visited David and Stevie for Heather’s wedding on August 1, 2019.  At a cocktail party the night before the wedding, Sandra spoke with John David, who was visiting from Nova Scotia.

From August 5 to 7, 2019, after Heather’s wedding on August 1, Sandra visited David and Stephanie and they hosted Sandra at the Corning Museum of Glass and Seward House Museum in Auburn NY.  On August 9, 2020, David took Sandra to the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, where the photo below was taken.

In December 2021, Sandra, David, and Stevie visited Bill at his home on Maui.  The photo below is of Sandra at the Five Palms Restaurant where Bill took us for brunch during our visit and at Cool Cat Restaurant, in Kihei, another of Bill’s favourites.

In January 2025, Bill and Joan hosted a luncheon for Sandra’s 80th birthday at Mezza Luna, a restaurant in Half Moon Bay, a coastal town west of Atherton. Stevie and I attended, as did Leif and Luke and their families, and Bill’s son, Jonathan, and his family.

In May 2025, Bill and Joan hosted a 55th birthday party for Leif at their home in Atherton. Stevie and I attended, as did Luke and his family.

Around that time, Leif entered into a long-term relationship with Lacy Sverev, who was a positive influence on Leif and his relationship with Sandra. Below are photos of Leif with Lacy and with her parents and aunt when he visited them in 2025.

Sandra continued to have a friendly relationship with her ex-husband, Michael Maura Sr., though she was estranged from his children, Mike Jr., who prospered in a position that gave him responsibility for the port of Nassau, and setting up ports elsewhere in the hemisphere, and Chris, who works for Templeton Financial. 

Sandra and Michael spoke often on the telephone during Michael’s last years. They last spoke ten days before his death. Although Michael never adopted Leif as his own son, as he and Sandra had discussed when they married, he gave generously to Leif, to help finance his adult education and ensure that he had a car to get to and from his classes. Leif visited Michael in Nassau in 2025, a year before Michael’s death.

Sandra speculated that the reason that Michael never adopted Leif, and that Mike and Chris became estranged from her, was that they erroneously believed that Sandra had left her marriage with Michael Sr. in order to resume her relationship with Peter Kubina, and blamed Sandra for Michael’s adversities after their divorce, including his difficult marriage to his third wife, Cindy, and the death of their young son Andrew, pictured below with Michael, of a brain tumor. 

Michael died at the age of 82 at his home on Paradise Island, on February 28, 2026. Michael left, as the three directors of Maura Lumber, his two sons with his first wife, Archerita, being Mike Jr. and Chris, and his son with his second wife, Cindy, being Alex, who did most of the buying of inventory for Maura Lumber from his office in Colorado.  Alex’s sister, Jessica, is a psychologist and, like Luke, who by the time of Michael’s death had become a financial advisor with Wells Fargo Bank, did not become directors of Maura Lumber.