Susie and brother Johnnie
Susie and Eliot, bathing beauties
Sue in Carmel with Taffy, Tom, Dorothy, Sara, and Lucy
What would Wah-Wah say about her little girl turning 75?
Junie is not believing THAT story!
Despite my famously awful memory, I have many recollections of Mom that will stand the test of time, some significant, others of such triviality it’s a wonder they’re still stuck in my head. I also got to spend a good stretch of time with Mom at a time when it was just the two of us. During those five years or so, I needed not compete with my sibs for attention, my sisters all having moved out by the time I was 13. Hmmm, now that I think about it, was that a “good thing” or a “bad thing”… I will choose “good thing”. After raising three before me, I think I was the beneficiary of a certain degree of relaxation that comes with a parents’ realization that maybe your kid will not injure themselves, get into trouble, or otherwise cause you some degree of dismay the second they get outside of your eyesight. Thanks for the long leash, Mom!
time and I actually don’t think you cheated too much. No one individual had a lock on being the nightly “Big Winner” so the playing field was pretty fair. I’ve got to tell you Mom, the guys loved blackjack night, too. There was always a good level of excitement amongst our crew at the prospect of game night. I was just talking to Steve the other day and he was suggesting the next time I’m up in New England that we have a game night at your place. Guess I’m not the only one for which it made a lasting impression.
m. My memories of Bob and Dan are fleeting, but all good. Jim of course was a surrogate Dad at an important time in my life. I’ve got quite a few fond memories of Jim. Thank you for bringing him into our household. 
bit of a rude surprise to have me descend upon your empty nest with only a few hours notice and all my stuff in tow.
Dear Aunt Susie,
d proudly, showing everyone on the beach. John stays out of the sun under our new “beach tent” while you patiently watch the kids in the water. “Why don’t you two take a nice walk down the beach?. I’ll watch the kids.” We explore the large rocks along the canal and take the loop past the bathhouses and back to the beach. On our return we find that Olivia has decided to chase a little boy down the beach and has completely forgotten everything else. You are watching her intently, exclaiming “She hasn’t looked back to even see if we’re here! Let’s see how far she goes until she realizes!” We all laugh and watch as Olivia stays on the heels of the boy for perhaps 200 yards. You follow after her keeping a good distance so she doesn’t see you. Finally, when she sees that she’s lost, you are close enough to rescue her and a major meltdown is avoided! On the way home, we stop for ice cream! Childhood memories!
The next day at Ellis Harbor you take the kids into the tidal pools and show them the marine life, the periwinkles, crabs, seaweed. We saunter down the beach while the kids hunt for tiny pieces of sea glass. Olivia has quite the eye for spotting the glass and collects dozens of little gems. You suggest we stop for ice cream on the way home and the kids whoop with excitement!
are, as always, completely taken with her! We walk along Craigville Beach, collecting shells. The sun is glinting behind the clouds and I realize that I should have brought suits for the kids. We decide that we all want ice cream and go the local’s favorite. I realize I haven’t eaten this much ice cream since I was a kid! Olivia and Claire don’t want to leave -- Hannah is too much fun! And, we do manage to survive Cape traffic on our drive back to Pembroke.
I remember one time it was Grandma, Mom, Nick and me; we were all sitting at a booth at some funky restaurant Grandma brought us to. After waiting for a good 15 minutes our food arrived. The distraught Grandma quickly leans in and exclaims, “That waitress just called me honey, I could be her mother!”
There are two bestselling books on the market that are all about lying to your children about food. It seems that the Depression-Era generation aren't the only ones trying to coerce their children into eating distasteful things like mushrooms and spinach. Now 20-something Moms of the new millennium are jumping on the bandwagon.When I think back on the Special Times in my life with Mom, there are so many, I have to force myself to winnow out a few “gems”. Thus, I list a variety below:
The two top pictures below are the ones I keep displayed at my post office work place, so that I can talk to her whenever I wish. I think they represent Mom well.
The “Lemon Sherbert Linen Dress” photo shows the dress Ma wore to Fransje and John Holloway’s wedding. I thought it was so lovely, I had to photograph her in it. She was doing the candle-lighting patrol, making sure all the little tea lights were lit, before the bride’s arrival. My daughter Kyria, brother Tom, cousins Seth Leo, Matt Liebo, and Peter Browne, are in the background.
The photo of “Mom With the Twins” is special for her smile, and for our funny quilt blocks. Sara and I were supposed to add to the Everyone Quilt, but we were late; a year late; so this reminds me to be more with it. I also like the photo because it’s Lucy’s library, the Plumb Memorial in Rochester, where she used to work.
The last photo if self-explanatory. Mom’s wedding day. I was lucky to wear her dress on my own wedding day; with a lace bolero to hide the fact that my bosom didn’t fit the dress like Mom’s did. Isn’t she so pretty?
I am blessed to be visiting Mom for her 75th, and Lucy for her 50th, around the time of their natal days. I will add photos of those good times later. Til then, Happy Birthday Dear Mom!
Submitted by Dorothy.
Mom being pregnant with Lucy and telling me I had to sit in Dad’s lap because she didn’t have one any more. Mom coming in the front door (Towson?) carrying just-born Lucy home from the hospital and wearing that brown & black coat she had that I loved so much (I wanted one like it for years).
When we lived in Hyattsville we had rabbits, which Dorothy (wink) would let out of the cage and the cats would catch them and eat them. I remember Robin Zuber, a neighbor kid; she was a pill and I only played with her if no one else was around. One day, she made me so angry that I hit her over the head with an iron meat platter. She had to go to the hospital and get a couple stitches. I remember Mom laughing while she told me what a bad thing I had done, and said if ever a kid deserved it, it was Robin.
Mom taking us to Loon Lake where Aunt Cindy’s parents Len & Gertrude Chace had a home, to play with Kathryn and Fergie, swim, spend the night, play dress-ups, and hang out in the little playhouse they had in their yard.
Mom taking us to visit Wahwah (Julia Benton), the little Portuguese woman who was Mom’s & Uncle John’s 2nd mama/nanny when they were growing up. Gosh do I have a lot of memories of that place when I stop and think about it. Wahwah lived in a cute little house with her sister Rita. They were both very tiny women and we used to measure ourselves against them and brag when we were finally “taller than Wahwah!” They taught us our first Portuguese swear words (the only one I can remember is vay-ka gah…does that sound right?) and cooked Portuguese food for us when we visited. I loved their collection of cranberry glass.
Mom having her hair frosted by a lady who spoke Spanish and we girls thought she talked very fast. I think this was when we lived in Carmel. I also remember that Mom used to play tennis and she’d take us with her. Tom would climb to the very highest tippy-top of the pine trees near the courts and Mom would just call “come down Tom!” as calmly as she could.
I remember Mom dealing with Tom’s celiac disease, mostly when we lived in Carmel, and the time he freaked us all out when he snuck Hot Tamales (cinnamon candies) and then puked red stuff all over Mom’s VW bus. It was also in Carmel where Mom published her first little volume of poems with the help of her friend Harry Graham.
We took a trip to Yosemite one winter where Mom and Dad rented 2 little one-roomed cabins. They had beds to sleep 3 in each, a little table and chairs, and were heated by a wood stove. Mom or Dad had to come over to the cabin during the night and keep our fire going. Tom was just a little kid and that was the year of the famous picture of him catching snowflakes on his tongue.
Going burro packing with Tony Zufich, a man Mom met at her writing group in Carmel (he also introduced us to Judy Talley). If memory serves, we loaded up all our stuff and packed it on a burro, then hiked into some place in the Carmel Valley (Tom got to ride because he was little, but we girls had to hoof it the whole way). Tony taught us how to dig a bed in the sand that would make it more comfortable to sleep on the ground and that we should keep our heads outside our sleeping bags because breathing inside the bag would create moisture. We camped near a creek where we spent a day rock climbing, swimming, and hunting crawdads with some bacon and a coffeepot for a net. Mom told us to slather on sunburn cream & Tony teased her and said there was no such word as “slather”.
Scooping water out of the basement when we lived across the street from the high school in Lakeville. I’m not certain if we had a sump-pump and it wasn’t working, or what, but I remember that we all took “shifts” getting up during the night one year because the basement was flooding and we had a lot of stuff down there. I remember, too, when we lived in Assonet, Dorothy and I got to use Mom’s station wagon to drive to Catholic Memorial Nursing Home in Fall River, where we worked as nurses’ aides. Mom had just finished taking a home health aide course and was taking care of people in their homes.
Mom telling me I ought to marry a man who wears a tie to work. I had a beau in California who I’d told this remark to and who, when Mom was out visiting, took us out to dinner at the local Chinese restaurant and wore a tie! Strangely enough, this man whose name is Dick, is a friend of ours still, and shares the same birthday as Mom’s.
During the time we were all together at Halcyon New York for the wedding of Fransje Leonard & John Holloway, Mom & I were sitting together outside one afternoon. No one else was around. I went to the house to get another glass of iced coffee and while I was in there, I noticed the “bar” and thought, “I could have a drink and no one would know!” That idea so horrified me that I hurried out to Mom and admitted what I’d thought. She broke up laughing and told me that while I’d been inside, she’d noticed that I’d left my pack of cigarettes on the table and she’d suddenly thought, “I could have a cigarette and no one would know!” This story cracks me up to this day.
Submitted by Sara.
My fondest memory of grandma was the summer I went back East as a kid. I remember taking the plane by myself, getting my little wings and coloring book and finally arriving on the east coast after what seemed like a day long flight. I spent a lot of time with grandma and I think we went to an ice cream shop every day. Each day we would try a different place, and I would always get the same kind of ice cream, chocolate chip. We went to Peaceful Meadows, the Newport Creamery and many more. She would always encourage me to try other flavors, but my favorite kind was chocolate chip and so that is what I stuck with. I remember her little house in East Bridgewater, walking to the library and the penny candy store and the pond to feed the ducks...going to Plymouth for Mayflower tours, Plymouth Plantation, lobster and whale watching and going to Sandwich. We would work in her garden, read, go pick berries, go to the pond, and swim . I had a great summer with grandma that year!
Susie Leonard 1938
Nancy, John, Wadah, Susie, Ruth, circa 1949
Sue and Eliot crooning before the wedding
Wedding Day, August, 1954
Honeymoon 1954
Esther Harris and Sue modeling maternity smocks
Sue and Grandma Loo
Glamorous Mamma with Sara and Dorothy, 1957
Tired Mamma with drink and cigarette, 1957
Sue with baby Lucy, Halcyon Farm, 1958
Lucy turns 1, Ruxton, 1959
A boy at last! Sue and Tom, 1964 
m the waterfall and pond that Brud had built -- a raised bed sort of affair with wooden sides and a platform edge all around. We had thrown in some aquatic plants and fish, and that afternoon we noticed that a frog had hopped up on the wooden edge of the pond and was sunning himself near the splashing water.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times -- life on Long Pasture Road in Little Compton, RI. For us kids, it was an adventure to live in a crazy old house with the stable and guesthouse and outhouse, surrounded by fields and ocean, within walking distance to Wilbur's Store and Wilbur's Woods. It seemed that in the summer the house was always filled with guests -- cousins and aunts and uncles and friends, dogs and cats and rabbits and a goat. For Mom, I know it was a difficult time, and she survived problems with the restaurant and marriage and health and three wild daughters. Thank god for Tommy -- at least HE behaved himself! Mom worked hard to keep the house warm, food on the table, and her family intact.Submitted by Lucy.
Ah those wild and wooly days of the 1950's, Sue at Bryn Mawr and Cyndie at Radcliffe. For some odd reason a football game comes to mind. Donald and I gathered some Harvard friends and headed to Bryn Mawr. Sue welcomed us and we frolicked in ways that seemed oh so smart then and now silly/strange. We had great fun. Sue and her date (who Sue? I don't remember where Eliot was) and the rest of the crew piled in the car to go to game at Princeton. While cozy on laps and singing our hearts out, we realized one of the blind dates was telling us about her eagerness to be in heaven. Wow! She was so serious while most of us had not spent much time thinking about heaven. We were focused on the game and parties and laughed till our tummies hurt in response to Sue's stories. She has that beautiful gift today.
Gramma threatening Karl & Ben with the Pa Leonard manoeuver.
Ben, Sara, & Karl at Mom's
The sign on Karl's mortarboard reads "Hi Mom!"
In Western Colorado and Eastern Utah, the conductor looked the other way so I could lean out and take these picture of our view. The pictures I took through the windows are pretty discolored because of the double panes and the plastic glass so I won't include them here. However, I will add that one night, we ate trout in the dining car, and several times we took walks to the Observation car, with the "VistaDome" roof. Downstairs from there was a snack bar where we had a treat of Hagen Daz ice cream!
The betrothed couple - Jeffery Wilson and Dorothy Loomis
Submitted by Sara.
