Mary and Memories

Mary was one of the most compassionate and devoted people I know. Her life revolved around "the family" as she called us, her friends, and baking. Mary worked for Ma Bell (The New England Telephone Company) for most of her adult life. She lived in the house she grew up in, a small blue cottage in one of the prettiest neighborhoods on the North Shore.  Mary never had a car, so she walked EVERYWHERE! Anytime she needed yarn for all of the knitting she did or a few odds and ends, she would walk the two miles up and the two miles back to and from town. She never married but she treated her nieces and nephews (my mother and her siblings) and her great nieces and nephews as her own. She cooked supper every Sunday for my grandparents, aunts and uncles. From the stories I hear (again and again), they were very eventful.  Living right up the street from where my mother and her brother and sisters grew up, Mary's house was a sort of refuge where each of them could escape the large household of 8. This continued with my generation.


I couldn't wait until my parents dropped me off at Mary's on the weekends. The night would begin with a supper of tuna noodle casserole or American chop suey with juice in a wine glass followed by one (or two or three) of her baked goods. We would then "retire" to the living room in our housecoats (yes, I had a housecoat at Mary's) to watch cable TV. Before going to bed, Mary would go upstairs to turn on the electric blankets so the beds would be warm when we got in! We would say our prayers before getting into bed aroudn 8:30/9pm. Upon waking up @ 7am, Mary would serve breakfast either at the dining room table or the white card table next to the window overlooking the beach. We would have her shredded wheat bread, juice, and a piece of fruit. Either before dinner or after breakfast we would bake up a batch of cookies and distribute them to the rest of the family who resided in the same neighborhood (and still do to this day).

I would always try and eek out 2 nights at my aunts, not wanting to leave the hubbub of the neighborhood filled with my family, friends and the beach. A typical exit from Mary's house consisted of my face pressed up against my parents' car window screaming "Don't take me home"! Nothing against my parents, but they didn't have electric blankets, cookies, the beach, or chocolate covered ice creams in their freezer.

Many of my childhood memories consist of Mary, her house and the neighborhood. Mary passed away a few years back at the age of 93. Her passing was difficult, but we were comforted in knowing that she led an amazing life full of love and laughter. Mary is continuously remembered through the stories of her life, the hundreds of slides she left behind and her recipes which continue to keep us well fed and satisfied!