Letter from Edie to Al, Peter, and Peggy, about Maggie: 11/30/1988
A letter from Will's daughter-in-law Edie in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the husband, Al, and to the children, Peter and Peggy, of Will's oldest daughter Maggie, in Washington State
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This is a copy that my mother kept of a letter she wrote after her sister-in-law Maggie's death to Maggie's husband, Al, and her children, Peter and Peggy.
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November 30, 1988
Dear Al, Peter, and Peggy:
I have thought a lot about all of you in the recent months, recalling a host of memories from long ago and wishing we weren't so many miles apart. Even though I had seen almost nothing of Maggie in recent years, the recollections of our days together in Woods Hole were vivid. We were good friends from the day we first met in the summer of 944, probably because we viewed the world and especially the Fernbank menage in similar ways. Last summer Glady's cousins and I dug through a log of Glayd's old pictures, including some of Snafu and her crew, with Maggie on the jib.
It's funny how you remember the little things. One of the big events of a Woods Hole summer was always Glady's birthday. The summer Maggie was there, she took on the job of organizing the party; it must have been Grady's 41st birthday. Maggie cooked most of the dinner herself - - I still remember the wonderful lobster newburg. In those days she was avidly collecting house ideas; she gave me a big manila envelope and ordered me to do likewise. Of course Roger and I ended up in a 1775 house and none of my collection was the least bit relevant, but some of the ideas survived and were incorporated when we built the Scraggy Neck house.
I particularly remember Maggie and me on the night of the 1944 hurricane. We struggled and struggled with the family to persuade them to make a few preparations - - moving stuff up out of the basement, putting bureau drawers on top of bureaus, jacking up the piano on blocks of wood to give it a few more inches. All of that was against Aunt Eva's religious principles because it showed a lack of faith, and she had no hesitation in making her disapproval clear. Meanwhile Aunt Alma and Maggie and I carried load after load upstairs. When we finally got the whole household over to Glady's to spend the night, Maggie and I headed for the Oceanographic building, where I worked. The administration had ordered all people with families to stay home with them and requested all the single people available to spend the storm in the building to help save scientific equipment should it become necessary. Maggie and I were assigned the task of evacuating the small tools in the machine shop, but fortunately didn't have to do it because the tide stopped rising just in time. We slept on army cots in the corridor and staggered home at 6 a.m. to find Fernbank sitting in 8 feet of salt water. The water finally receded after about 10 days, but poor Maggie spent the next couple of weeks cleaning out the stinking muck in the basement; I luckily had had to go back to work.
I remember also the apartment in Alexandria and the wonderful puppies...we had one of Blondie's daughters for 15 years, and my mother and father had one of her grandsons for another 15. Did Maggie ever tell you what happened when she came back to Woods Hole? My cocker, Honey, hadn't seen Maggie for years, and paid no particular attention to her for the first few days. One day Maggie was sitting at one end of Glady's porch and I was at the other end with Honey in my lap. Maggie called out something to me, and suddenly Honey recognized her voice; she tore out of my lap and made a flying leap into Maggie's, ecstatically licking her face and yelping for joy. Maggie was thrilled that Honey remembered her, and it made a big impression on all of us. In fact Glady reminded me it only a year or two before she died. Right now I'm without a dog - - too hard to train a puppy when you live in a high rise, and I can't spend enough time on the Cape to get the job done there. I've even thought of moving to another condominium to remedy the situation, but it really doesn't make sense.
I'm so thankful Maggie was able to know how Glady felt about the Stokey family. AG and I have talked about it a lot; we are astounded at what Glady did and impressed by how carefully she had thought through what she wanted to do. It's wonderful that she left the Woods Hole house to the Goltermans. Of all her relatives, Ed has the strongest ties to Woods Hole. He and Dorothy have six children and two grandchildren already, and will use the house just as Glady did and as it should be used - - crowded with people enjoying themselves.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving we all went down to Woods Hole - - Ray and AG, Betsy, Ming, Roger and Andrea and the three little ones, and I. We parked the car in Glady's yard and just wandered around the village, trying to recreate it as it was before the hordes descended. The views across Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound are just as beautiful as ever, but there's been so much building we were glad to get back to the seclusion of Scraggy Neck, where the only houses we can see are a mile and a half away across the water.
I was so grateful to Maggie for making that last trip to see Roger. I know it must have been dreadfully hard for her; indeed it was hard for all of us to see him so very ill for so many years. It meant a great deal to him, even though he couldn't say so. His greatest pleasure was in having the family around and hearing the conversation. Once in a while he would manage to say something - - usually a penetrating observation on the world and its foibles - - so we knew his mind was still perfectly clear.
I continue to work more than full time at Harvard. I love teaching, and it compels me to stay on top of things. I only wish I had a little more time to spend at the Cape and with the grandchildren. Roger and Andrea now have Matt (6), Leigh (4), and Sarah (8 months). Andrea's mother died five years ago and her father is getting along in years and spending a lot of time in Florida, so I'm on grandparent duty a good deal but not as much as I'd like. Fortunately they live only about half an hour from here. Our family and AG's will all be together at Christmas, as we have been every year since 1950. AG is now a grandmother; Scott was born July 30.
Bill told me he thought you had designated an organization for memorial gifts, but didn't remember what it is. I've enclosed a check for you to send wherever you think appropriate. While we're on the subject, while Bill was here for Glady's memorial service, he and AG and I discussed doing something in Glady's name in Woods Hole. Our best thought is to establish a book fund in the Woods Hole library, with the income to be used for book purchases and book plates to indicate that the fund was given in her memory. Drop me a line if you would like to be part of it.
I do hope our families can stay in touch despite the distances. I'm not much of a letter writer, but am doing better now that I've given up trying to write by hand. And of course we would be delighted to see any of you who come this way...you really should consider it!
Dear Al, Peter, and Peggy:
I have thought a lot about all of you in the recent months, recalling a host of memories from long ago and wishing we weren't so many miles apart. Even though I had seen almost nothing of Maggie in recent years, the recollections of our days together in Woods Hole were vivid. We were good friends from the day we first met in the summer of 944, probably because we viewed the world and especially the Fernbank menage in similar ways. Last summer Glady's cousins and I dug through a log of Glayd's old pictures, including some of Snafu and her crew, with Maggie on the jib.
It's funny how you remember the little things. One of the big events of a Woods Hole summer was always Glady's birthday. The summer Maggie was there, she took on the job of organizing the party; it must have been Grady's 41st birthday. Maggie cooked most of the dinner herself - - I still remember the wonderful lobster newburg. In those days she was avidly collecting house ideas; she gave me a big manila envelope and ordered me to do likewise. Of course Roger and I ended up in a 1775 house and none of my collection was the least bit relevant, but some of the ideas survived and were incorporated when we built the Scraggy Neck house.
I particularly remember Maggie and me on the night of the 1944 hurricane. We struggled and struggled with the family to persuade them to make a few preparations - - moving stuff up out of the basement, putting bureau drawers on top of bureaus, jacking up the piano on blocks of wood to give it a few more inches. All of that was against Aunt Eva's religious principles because it showed a lack of faith, and she had no hesitation in making her disapproval clear. Meanwhile Aunt Alma and Maggie and I carried load after load upstairs. When we finally got the whole household over to Glady's to spend the night, Maggie and I headed for the Oceanographic building, where I worked. The administration had ordered all people with families to stay home with them and requested all the single people available to spend the storm in the building to help save scientific equipment should it become necessary. Maggie and I were assigned the task of evacuating the small tools in the machine shop, but fortunately didn't have to do it because the tide stopped rising just in time. We slept on army cots in the corridor and staggered home at 6 a.m. to find Fernbank sitting in 8 feet of salt water. The water finally receded after about 10 days, but poor Maggie spent the next couple of weeks cleaning out the stinking muck in the basement; I luckily had had to go back to work.
I remember also the apartment in Alexandria and the wonderful puppies...we had one of Blondie's daughters for 15 years, and my mother and father had one of her grandsons for another 15. Did Maggie ever tell you what happened when she came back to Woods Hole? My cocker, Honey, hadn't seen Maggie for years, and paid no particular attention to her for the first few days. One day Maggie was sitting at one end of Glady's porch and I was at the other end with Honey in my lap. Maggie called out something to me, and suddenly Honey recognized her voice; she tore out of my lap and made a flying leap into Maggie's, ecstatically licking her face and yelping for joy. Maggie was thrilled that Honey remembered her, and it made a big impression on all of us. In fact Glady reminded me it only a year or two before she died. Right now I'm without a dog - - too hard to train a puppy when you live in a high rise, and I can't spend enough time on the Cape to get the job done there. I've even thought of moving to another condominium to remedy the situation, but it really doesn't make sense.
I'm so thankful Maggie was able to know how Glady felt about the Stokey family. AG and I have talked about it a lot; we are astounded at what Glady did and impressed by how carefully she had thought through what she wanted to do. It's wonderful that she left the Woods Hole house to the Goltermans. Of all her relatives, Ed has the strongest ties to Woods Hole. He and Dorothy have six children and two grandchildren already, and will use the house just as Glady did and as it should be used - - crowded with people enjoying themselves.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving we all went down to Woods Hole - - Ray and AG, Betsy, Ming, Roger and Andrea and the three little ones, and I. We parked the car in Glady's yard and just wandered around the village, trying to recreate it as it was before the hordes descended. The views across Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound are just as beautiful as ever, but there's been so much building we were glad to get back to the seclusion of Scraggy Neck, where the only houses we can see are a mile and a half away across the water.
I was so grateful to Maggie for making that last trip to see Roger. I know it must have been dreadfully hard for her; indeed it was hard for all of us to see him so very ill for so many years. It meant a great deal to him, even though he couldn't say so. His greatest pleasure was in having the family around and hearing the conversation. Once in a while he would manage to say something - - usually a penetrating observation on the world and its foibles - - so we knew his mind was still perfectly clear.
I continue to work more than full time at Harvard. I love teaching, and it compels me to stay on top of things. I only wish I had a little more time to spend at the Cape and with the grandchildren. Roger and Andrea now have Matt (6), Leigh (4), and Sarah (8 months). Andrea's mother died five years ago and her father is getting along in years and spending a lot of time in Florida, so I'm on grandparent duty a good deal but not as much as I'd like. Fortunately they live only about half an hour from here. Our family and AG's will all be together at Christmas, as we have been every year since 1950. AG is now a grandmother; Scott was born July 30.
Bill told me he thought you had designated an organization for memorial gifts, but didn't remember what it is. I've enclosed a check for you to send wherever you think appropriate. While we're on the subject, while Bill was here for Glady's memorial service, he and AG and I discussed doing something in Glady's name in Woods Hole. Our best thought is to establish a book fund in the Woods Hole library, with the income to be used for book purchases and book plates to indicate that the fund was given in her memory. Drop me a line if you would like to be part of it.
I do hope our families can stay in touch despite the distances. I'm not much of a letter writer, but am doing better now that I've given up trying to write by hand. And of course we would be delighted to see any of you who come this way...you really should consider it!
audio---images---comment---transcript---~NOTES~---links---site navigation
I particularly remember Maggie and me on the night of the 1944 hurricane.
We have the story of the 1944 hurricane told from a slightly different angle in my mother's eulogy for Glady:
1988 EDIE'S EULOGY FOR GLADY
And of course I've added the information here to the Fernbank page on this website:
FERNBANK
Did Maggie ever tell you what happened when she came back to Woods Hole? My cocker, Honey, hadn't seen Maggie for years, and paid no particular attention to her for the first few days. One day Maggie was sitting at one end of Glady's porch and I was at the other end with Honey in my lap. Maggie called out something to me, and suddenly Honey recognized her voice; she tore out of my lap and made a flying leap into Maggie's, ecstatically licking her face and yelping for joy.
My mother said that what made the difference was that Maggie happened to say something in a falsetto voice - the sort of voice you might use when talking to a little puppy.
I was so grateful to Maggie for making that last trip to see Roger.
Maggie's visit to see Roger (my father) in the 1980s was the only time I met her. It meant so much to us that she came.
We have the story of the 1944 hurricane told from a slightly different angle in my mother's eulogy for Glady:
1988 EDIE'S EULOGY FOR GLADY
And of course I've added the information here to the Fernbank page on this website:
FERNBANK
Did Maggie ever tell you what happened when she came back to Woods Hole? My cocker, Honey, hadn't seen Maggie for years, and paid no particular attention to her for the first few days. One day Maggie was sitting at one end of Glady's porch and I was at the other end with Honey in my lap. Maggie called out something to me, and suddenly Honey recognized her voice; she tore out of my lap and made a flying leap into Maggie's, ecstatically licking her face and yelping for joy.
My mother said that what made the difference was that Maggie happened to say something in a falsetto voice - the sort of voice you might use when talking to a little puppy.
I was so grateful to Maggie for making that last trip to see Roger.
Maggie's visit to see Roger (my father) in the 1980s was the only time I met her. It meant so much to us that she came.
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