Memories – Page 7 – The Dackel Princess

Farewell Dear Nan

When I was eight, my sister met her future husband. They were 13. They courted through letters, and occasional phone calls and visits either to Arlington where Ron lived or he came to Falmouth.

Since propriety called for a chaperone for my sister, I was nominated for the post. Everyone knew I had a big mouth and that if Mel and Ron did anything they shouldn’t I would rat them out. After all, what else do 8 year olds do?.

Consequently I met Ron’s mother, Nancy, pretty early in my life. She was studying to be an elementary school teacher, and I was a great way for her to practice.

My Mom on the left and Nancy on the right. Two lovely ladies!

I remember her teaching me to read and to do simple math. She also read me stories, which I really loved.

When Melodie was invited to go to their cottage in Winchendon, Massachusetts, I was invited as well. Ron’s parents taught me to water ski, to shoot a BB gun, and what it was like to camp with no TV. At least I do not recall there being one there.

I remember Nan in her lovely bathing suit, being on the dock, in the boat and swimming, looking incredibly beautiful.

After Mel and Ron married, they lived with Ron’s folks while he went to school, and while Mel and Ron’s first child was born. I went up to stay with them and again, I spent time with Nan watching Boston Bruins Hockey. These were the years of Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and Derrick Sanderson! Yes, a hockey team made in heaven!

Over the years, Nan’s life went in a different direction, but whenever we saw each other it was easy. After all, even though we weren’t technically related, she always treated me like one of her own.

Ron and his mother Nancy.

This lovely woman passed away yesterday from complications of age and Parkinson’s Disease. Her death means that the last of our parents is gone and now Mel, Ron, Ron’s brother and I are the older generation. It’s hard to believe.

Nancy loved all of her family very much. She was proud of each of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I think at the end, she fretted some, at leaving them all, but her body just plain gave out.

So, as I bid a very fond farewell, to a terrific lady, who made such an impact on my life, I send out my deepest sympathy to all of Nancy’s family and her friends.

Rest in peace, Nancy.

And The Lyrics Are…

I was reading Facebook today, when I saw a poster that said, “Remember a time before you could look up lyrics on the Internet, and you went around singing the most horrendous versions of your favorite songs?”

Oh, I do, I do! I also remember recording a song off the radio on a reel to reel tape machine, and then play and stop and play and stop, in order to get the lyrics written down. And even then I know I bungled more than a few song lyrics!

I do like being able to find lyrics just by entering a few words in a search engine. It just makes it so easy, and I look like a real star when singing in the grocery store.

Recently, I heard a song that had been redone by another artist doing the vocals. Oh it was one of my favorite songs back in the day. It was called “The Final – Old & Wise” by The Alan Parsons Project back in 1982.

Old & Wise is a rather melancholy song about growing old and getting toward the end of your time on earth. I remember when it was popular back in 1982 we bought the Album it was on. After my daughter passed away, I listened to it often. I was in a bad place.

Now as I approach my 60th birthday, (later this year!), I think that this song is beautiful in a very different way. It’s the affirmation that you have loved and cared and been loved. It’s such a wonderful song.

The newer version was still done by The Alan Parsons Project, in Antwerp, Belgium in October 1990. But with David Paton singing the lead . Wow it was so good! Here it is, so listen and enjoy!

The Lyrics to Old & Wise

As far as my eyes can see
There are shadows approaching me
And to those I left behind
I wanted you to know
You’ve always shared my deepest thoughts
You follow where I go[CHORUS]
And oh when I’m old and wise
Bitter words mean little to me
Autumn winds will blow right through me
And someday in the mist of time
When they asked me if I knew you
I’d smile and say you were a friend of mine
And the sadness would be lifted from my eyes
Oh when I’m old and wiseAs far as my eyes can see
There are shadows surrounding me
And to those I leave behind
I want you all to know
You’ve always shared my darkest hours
I’ll miss you when I go

[CHORUS]
And oh, when I’m old and wise
Heavy words that tossed and blew me
Like autumn winds will blow right through me
And someday in the mist of time
When they ask you if you knew me
Remember that you were a friend of mine
As the final curtain falls before my eyes
Oh when I’m old and wise

As far as my eyes can see

Anyway, back in the day, I had done the lyric writing by listening and writing down what I heard. I thought I had it right back then, but fast forward to now and I looked up the lyrics and I messed up a few. Close though.

Anyway, today’s kids have no idea what it was like, back in the day, before computers, cell phones and search engines that instantly gave you the lyrics. We actually had to work for them!

Surf Drive

I grew up in Falmouth, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. My house was literally a five minute walk to the beach. Surf Drive Beach. And from the time I was born, Surf Drive Beach was the place I wanted to be. And it still is.

Mom was really great about bring us to the beach. In the mornings during the summer, Mom would make sandwiches, pack a basket with drinks, chips and cookies, and away we would go to the beach. From the time we could walk, we had swimming lessons. Mom would sit on her beach chair, reading the latest novel, and we would spend the day swimming.

Surf Drive Beach in 1966

Now don’t get me wrong. Not every day in the summer on Cape Cod is beautiful, sunny and hot. In fact there were many foggy days, where our lips turned blue while we swam in the somewhat cool ocean. But it didn’t matter, because Surf Drive Beach was my free space. The place I could most feel alive and wild and wonderful.

Even now, fifty-nine years down the road, Surf Drive Beach still warms my heart and soul. I can walk out onto the jetties and my soul re-energizes! The sound of the ocean soothes my soul.

Me enjoying Surf Drive Beach in September 2017

I think I will always feel this way. Surf Drive Beach will always be home, no matter where I live or how old I get.

A Little Tea

Growing up in my family, a cup of tea was probably the most important thing we shared. For me, our afternoon teas started almost before any of my actual memories do.

When I was not quite four years old, my appendix ruptured and after the surgery, my mother got a call from the nurses in the Pediatric Ward. Oh goodness, Maribeth is not drinking. They’d tried to offer me everything, and I refused.

“Offer her a cup of tea with two sugars and a little milk” my mother told them. So the nurse did and apparently I perked right up. Yes, me and my tea go back a long way.

All through my youth we drank tea in the afternoons. When I got home from school, while watching “Dark Shadows”, I would have a cup of tea and a few cookies. I sort of thought every one did, right?

When I was in 6th grade I moved in with my grandparents, and that’s when the real ritual began. I would go to school each day, and when I came home, after grandma’s soap opera was over, we would have our tea, some cookies and talk. I would tell them all about my day, school, what was happening, and what I thought. And Grandma, Papa and my Mom, always listened. When my sister was there, she joined us too.

When my grandmother got too old to leave her bed, and we knew her time was drawing near, we gathered our children together and had a tea party. Right there in her bedroom. It was the last time I saw her before she passed.

I continued the tradition of tea, with my Mom, my sister, my cousin, Janet and my own children. And when my Mom died, my sister had a tea party after her Memorial Service. Complete with beautiful tea cups and cookies. Mom would have loved it!

The other day I was watching Pioneer Woman on the Food Channel. Ree and her daughter, Paige were having a tea during the show. They had so much fun making up the treats to serve with it too. Eventually Ree asks her daughter how often she thinks they should do this? And her daughter smiles and says “Every day!”.

And that was when I started to cry. I suddenly missed all those afternoon teas we shared. I missed my Grandma, my Mom, Papa. Those moments, those sweet days have gone by. Aside from my sister, daughter, Mandy and cousin Janet, the people I shared those days with have gone too.

My love of tea, and of a few cookies or small finger sandwiches goes on. It’s my link to my past. I’m so very grateful to have it..

Gene Rayburn

New Years morning found me staying in bed most of the day. I slept some, and then I watched some old game shows. One was Match Game, with Gene Rayburn. There is a story I have about Gene Rayburn and here it is.

In the first few months, I was seeing Jack, he took me to New York City. We stopped at the Twin Towers, but there was something inside me that made me shy away from them. I told Jack that if we could go to the Empire State Building I would go up there.

So, we went over to The Empire State Building, in all its glory, and took the elevator to the top. We were walking around on the observation deck when I saw Gene Rayburn! I told Jack, who immediately said that he wasn’t Gene Rayburn at all. So I made Jack a bet! If it was Gene Rayburn, then we would go and get one of those hokey pictures at the top of the Empire State Building in the photo booth. He accepted the challenge. Game on!

I went over and very quietly asked him if he was, in fact, Gene Rayburn. He smiled and looked down at several children that were with him.

“Yes I am,” he said. But he asked if I could not make a big deal, because he was there with his grandchildren. I smiled and said of course, and told him I’d just won my bet and would be getting a picture in the photo booth.

Score one for me!

It’s That Time Of The Year!

Today I turn 59 years old, as another year has passed and another birthday is upon me! Isn’t that great? I love having birthdays and I don’t even mind the fact that the number immediately following my name keeps climbing. You know, if there was ever a newspaper article written about me it would say, “Maribeth, The Dackel Princess, age 59…” No, it’s just fine that the number keeps gaining on me. I don’t mind at all!

As today is the day I am celebrating my life, I wanted to share with you all a short montage of me and the people in my life that make my life full and wonderful.

Thanks for watching!

Preparations

I’m dragging out the suitcase today and starting to pack for the trip to Cape Cod to go to my High School 40th Reunion. Here is the fun part. I have two High School Classes that I have been lucky enough to be incredibly close to.

I went to school from Nursery School until eleventh grade with the Class of 1977. These are the people I had all my classes with, pajama parties with, dances with, etc. I looked at the RSVP list, and I knew every name and had classes with every one of these people. And then skipped a grade and graduated in 1976.

I have really longed to go back and see my Class of 1977. It’s funny how much I have looked back and with such great fondness at these wonderful people, that I grew up with.

I have a rough idea of what I will wear. So much of it depends on the weather. Cape Cod can be wonderfully warm, also known as Indian Summer, when the leaves are changing and Autumn is upon us, but our temperatures linger in the upper 70’s and lower 80’s.

Likewise, it can be cold, damp and windy. So clothes will be packed for both occasions.

I am planning to go out on Friday night and have the two food items that I absolutely love, but cannot get here. The first is a “Stuffed Quahog” (A hard clam, also known as a quahog, pronounced “KO-hog , is an edible marine bivalve mollusc that is native to the eastern shores of North America). A Stuffed Quahog, consists of a breadcrumb and minced clam mixture that is baked on the half shell of a quahog hard shell clam. And it is gooooood!

So, that’s first on my menu. The second are fried whole belly clams! Oh, I can get them up here, but it’s somehow not the same as eating them in my hometown, of Falmouth on Cape Cod.

And as I said the other day, spending time with my sister, Melodie and cousin, Janet, will be so wonderful!

I am praying that there is no rain on Saturday during the day because our biggest hope is to sit on the beach in our beach chairs, talking, reading our books, and enjoying the sunshine and the smell of the ocean. And remembering the days gone by, when we were little kids.

Ah, Falmouth! My hometown. How I love you!

Remembering September 11, 2001

I think we all can tell you where we were, and what we were doing on that fateful day, ten years ago.

September 11, 2001

It was a beautiful day here in New Hampshire. Sunny, bright, clear with blue skies. I was taking a shower getting ready for a dental appointment, while Hubby was working on shingling the house. It was a day like any other here.
Hubby had the TV in our bedroom pointed out the window so he could listen to the morning news.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my arm and Hubby told me I had to get out of the shower now, something was happening. I was a little dazed and confused. I shut the water in the shower off and grabbed my towel.

Hubby and I sat in our family room watching Fox News, ABC, and CNN. A plane had hit one of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in downtown New York City.

While we watched, suddenly another plane came in and hit the other Tower!
We were both in shock. We listened to reports. No one was saying terrorism, not at first. But both Hubby and I knew.

I look at this picture, and I know that none of those innocent people got out alive. That thought brings me to tears each time.

We watched the Tower’s come down, one and then the other. We knew people had died. We just didn’t know how many.

At 12:30 I drove to my dental appointment. There was not another car on the road. Not one. I got to my dental appointment and found that I was the only patient that hadn’t cancelled that day.

When I got home we watched the TV all day. I called my family and my close friends. Just to hear their voices.

It doesn’t matter your political affiliations, or how you feel about the war. What matters is on September 11, 2001 innocent people died in New York City, In Washington, DC and in Shanksville, PA.

People like you and like me. Just because they were Americans.
That was the day I learned that we are no longer safe here at home.

I also learned that when our country is attacked in such a manner, we pull together and unify.

God Bless all who lost their lives that day, to their families, who will never be the same, and all who serve this country each and every day to protect and defend us.

September 11, 2001: Basic Facts

Chronology
8:46 AM Plane crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
9:03 AM Plane crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center.
9:17 AM The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shuts down all New York City area airports.
9:21 AM The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halts all flights at U.S. airports. It is the first
time in history that air traffic has been halted nationwide.
9:38 AM Plane crashes into the Pentagon. Evacuation begins immediately.
9:45 AM The White House evacuates.
10:05 AM The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
10:10 AM A portion of the Pentagon collapses.
10:10 AM Plane crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
10:22 AM The State and Justice Departments, as well as the World Bank are evacuated.
10:28 AM The World Trade Center’s north tower collapses.
10:45 AM All federal office buildings in Washington, D.C. are evacuated.
1:44 PM Five warships and two aircraft carriers are ordered to leave the U.S. Naval Station
in Norfolk, Virginia to protect the East Coast.
4:10 PM Building 7 of the World Trade Center collapses.

The Flights
American Airlines Flight 11
From: Boston, Massachusetts (Logan Airport)
To: Los Angeles, California
Lives: 92 people on board
Crashed into North Tower of World Trade Center at 8:46 AM

United Airlines Flight 175
From: Boston, Massachusetts (Logan Airport)
To: Los Angeles, California
Lives: 65 people on board
Crashed into South Tower of World Trade Center at 9:03 AM

American Airlines Flight 77
From: Washington, D.C. (Dulles Airport)
To: Los Angeles, CA
Lives: 64 people on board
Crashed into the Pentagon at 9:38 AM

United Airlines Flight 93
From: Newark, New Jersey
To: San Francisco, California
Lives: 44 people on board
Crashed into rural Pennsylvania (southeast of Pittsburgh)

Victims
Victims came from more than 90 countries around the world.
The following are the number of people who died at each site:

World Trade Center 2,823 (includes airline passengers)
Pentagon 125 (not including plane victims)
Flight 11 – 92 people on board
Flight 175 – 64 people on board
Flight 77 – 64 people on board
Flight 93 – 44 people on board

The initial numbers are indelible: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m, the times the Towers were hit. Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes. Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out.

Fact Sheet
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC
August 15, 2002

Princess Diana, 20 Years Ago

Twenty years ago I was still living in Punta Gorda, Florida. Jack was off flying and I was alone with Max and Shubi our dogs. As was usual, they got me up at 5 AM, and as was usual, living in a community with strict leash laws, I pulled on my jogging clothes (still running back then) and took the two of them for a short walk.

When I got back I turned on the Satellite TV and heard the terrible news. Princess Diana had been in a horrible car crash and at first they suspected she was badly injured and then they came back telling the audience that she was dead.

I was shocked. I remember sitting there, thinking that it had to be a mistake! Certainly young, beautiful, Diana, finally free of the Royal Family, was fine and not….

But as I watched BBC News, and I saw the News Broadcasters struggling to control their own anguish, I knew it was true. Beautiful Diana, Francis Spencer, Princess of Wales was gone.

I called my Aunt in Framfield, East Sussex England and spoke to her and her sisters. They were all shocked and saddened by her passing.

The funeral overwhelmed me, and so many people. I recall crying and feeling so saddened for her sons. How would they cope without her loving, ways?

********************

Over the years I wondered about the Princess. I’d read the Book “Diana, Her True Story” back when it came out and at the time I remember thinking that the girl had been used. Like a lamb to slaughter. The Royals needed a virgin, to procreate and get an heir. Diana was chosen, at 19 years old for that. I was ashamed that anyone would do that.

The years passed again, and both Princes William and Harry grew up, William married the lovely Kate, and two children were born.

Then in the last two months the Princes released a loving portrait of their mother.

Recordings of Diana from Andrew Morton, her Biographer, and video tapes made with her voice coach Peter Settelen.

I watched and I listened to what Diana had to say, in her own voice. I watched her as she spoke. My heart broke for this lovely woman, who wanted only love in her life and never found it.

********************

Yes, I loved Princess Diana all along. I tried to mimic every new hair style she had, and even attempted the make up. I loved all the charitable work she did. And I loved how she loved her children. They were her everything. Although her life was very sad, Diana always put on a brave face, tended to her duties and gave her all.

I wish her life had been longer. I wish she had found true joy in her life. Today, on the 20th anniversary of her passing, I pray that she is finally at peace and I thank her for all she did in her short life.

My Mom 1929 – 2013

My Mom passed away four years ago today.

Rosamond Ruth, Mom. In life, ours was a very complicated relationship. However, with her illness and then passing, so much of the bitterness was forgiven, and in the end, there was only love. Now four years later, I find many moments where I miss my Mom. I wish I could call her, and hear her voice. There were so many times where I would call her and say, “Mom, just say it’s okay” and she would, then she asked what was up. As a small child, I recall sitting in her lap and holding her hand up to my lips. Not that I was kissing it, but just having her touch me, calmed me down. She was so beautiful, and yet, I do not think she ever knew that. But just look at the picture below, taken when she was maybe 40 years old.

I remember her sitting and listening to me when I had voice lessons. I was singing in Italian, and she loved that. Me? Not so much. But I sang and she was happy.

Mom loved her family. Her pocketbook weighed a ton. Why? Because she had pictures of each and every one of us in her bag. Not just to show to other people, but more than once I caught her looking them over. She etched the faces of each and every one of us in her memory.

When Mom was dying of cancer, I got out all of the old slides. I scanned in pictures of all of her loved ones Past and present. I made up a slide show on my laptop for her, so she could revisit each one of those moments. Mel, Janet and I played it for her at the Hospice. She loved that.

Amanda brought baby Savannah down, and Mom got to see her Great-granddaughter one last time. Oh how she adored Savi, and the thought that another generation of girls in her family would go on.

The last day I was with her, she was mostly drifting in and out. At one point I thought she was asleep, and I told her all the things I wanted to say to her. I hoped she heard me, where ever she was at that moment. I told her that I loved her so much.

She spoke quietly, slowly, and softly. “I’m here. And I love you too”.

Miss you Mom.