Diane Deshield's lessons in love with stay with her family forever.
"My mom was the best woman that I have ever met in my entire life," her daughter Lysette Deshields reminisced. "She was my best friend."
She said she went to pharmacy school because of her mom, and followed a career in public health because of her too.
But now, Lysette and her father Anthony will have to find a way forward without her, after a charity bike ride over the weekend ended in tragedy when a car hit and killed Diane.
Anthony and Diane Deshield's love story began almost 40 years ago. A chance meeting between a young engineer and college student at a Boston laundry mat. Anthony said he hoped Diane wouldn't go to the dryer next to him, but she did. Her meticulous nature had him intrigued and the conversation started there. It was the start of a lifelong love and friendship.
"I will miss her dearly," Anthony said sadly on Tuesday.
On Sunday, the Rockville couple's love of fitness and biking led them to take part in the Firefighter 50, a 62-mile charity bike ride in Frederick County. This was the couple's sixth long distance bike ride in the past year.
Then tragedy struck.
"I just knew someone was on the pavement and I thought 'Oh my God, someone got it,'" Anthony said.
He had no idea at first it was his wife.
Maryland State Police are still investigating and have not charged the driver of a Chevy Malibu yet. The route was a new one this year and there were no physical barriers on the course, just blue painted arrows.
Diane's life ended Sunday, but her contributions did not. She mentored pharmacy students for more than 20 years. She spent decades serving others at FDA and she made sure to make each candle count for each of her four children's birthdays.
"What I want people to take away from my mom is to live life to the fullest," Lysette Deshields said.
"She was my wife, my girl friend, my best friend," Anthony Deshields said.