Trina Woods

On Thursday, December 10, 2020, Trina Maria Woods, loving mother and doting grandmother, came full circle, passing away on her 57th birthday.

If you read all of her memorial posts, you’ll notice a theme. Everyone remembers Trina as the realest person you ever met. She wasn’t perfect and she knew it, but she never expected anyone else to be perfect either. She accepted everyone as they were. Even when she got mad with you, or you were mad with her, (her sisters and brothers can attest to this), she still loved you. She forgot (sometimes) and forgave (again, sometimes). She would fight as hard as she loved. It wouldn’t be an understatement to call her a warrior, she fought so many physical ailments and beat the odds so many times, that we just knew Trina was going to outlast us all. Thank God that she has finally found peace.

Trina was a hard head with a soft heart. She embraced everybody. When you were down, she’d help you out, always taking in anybody that needed help - even when she barely had anything of her own to give. Her heart was that big. Big enough to hold not only her grandkids, but everybody’s kids. Children adored her (Talia), maybe because she was a big kid herself. Real recognizes real.

She embodied music. Every good memory of Trina involved music. She sang all the time, from gospel to R&B, early hip hop to reggae. Al Green, Prince, The Isleys, SuperCat, Shabba… When she found a song she loved, she would run it into the ground! It was not unusual to hear the same song on repeat all day and she’d sing every part - the lead, the background, the ad libs, the runs, play air guitar, air piano and make the “oooh, I’m feeling this in my bones!” face.

She loved to laugh. Trina could tell a story or crack a joke and have your ribs hurting and tears flowing from laughing so hard. She was the life of the party and you could hear her loud mouth from blocks away. - all while drinking, smoking, playing spades, Uno, backgammon, dominoes, didn’t matter. She loved motorcycles, running with the Cobras Motorcycle Club on Hollis Ave in her younger years. She loved to cook and she loved to eat!

Trina was preceded in death by her father, Samuel Woods, Sr. and brother, Luther Raymond Woods. She is survived by her mother, Carrie Pearl (Lawrence) Woods, maternal aunts, Onell Lawrence and Mamie Meads, brother and sisters - Samuel Jr., Henrietta, and Linda, nieces and nephews; Monique, Kellie, Sam III, Kenny, and Steven. Her legacy endures through her children; Toshiba (Smurfette), Toni, Tyiesha, and Christopher, her grandchildren - Passion, Kevionna, Zhenavia, Eric, Aaliyah, Malik, Mi-Angel, Chris Jr., Xavion, and Xavier. She is also celebrated by her long-time love, Tanya Humbert, and her children, Darryl, Jeremiah, Tadeja, Emoni, Rayana and Jaray, as well as a host of cousins, friends, and extended family (both by blood and by choice).

Our family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during Trina’s brief but brutal battle with Covid. We appreciate the outpouring of love, the texts, phone calls, and posts. We thank you for honoring her memory with us by continuing to wear your masks, wash your hands, social distance and keep safe those most vulnerable loved ones in your lives.

It is special and perfect to die on your birthday. Chasidic masters in Judaism share that life is a mission God gives you that begins and ends on your birthday. Therefore, dying on your birthday indicates that you have completed your God-given earthly mission.

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