Shakespeare in the Gym

Aunt Mo touched many, many lives. She unknowingly inspired many to do things they never thought they were capable of. I remember back when she was teaching at Sycamore and I got a phone call from her one Spring day. She needed my help. Me? Whatever for? Well, she was putting on a play with her kiddos from her class. It happened to be an original Shakespeare tribute play/musical that she had created where the kids had fun while they learned about Shakespeare's great body of work. She knew I had experience putting on productions, since that's was what I majored in at IU - Theater. I worked closely with her and helped her put together all the various pieces of the production and voila! Magic! Inspiration! Shakespeare performed by kids! We made that magic happen a couple of times while she was still able to work at Sycamore, even when she was wearing wigs to hide the effects of her chemotherapy. I don't exactly know how to express it, but she knew me, and she knew what she wanted to do with her class, and she made it all come together. That's the impact she ALWAYS had on people. She was one of a kind and I am fortunate to have known her.

-Bernie

maureen was my coolest cousin

as a child of say 3 or 4 years of age.. my family lived in coloma, michigan.. my uncle charles and his family came to visit and i was in awe of my big cousin maureen.. "i want to look like maureen, with brown, thick,hair like her..". being the fair blonde i was.. my mom would not dye it for me... then once i took my very first plane ride.. from detroit to indianapolis.. .. judith and i had dinner at the newlyweds, maureen and david's house, oh. i again thought maureen was the coolest.. real wine glasses and pizza on china.. "oh if only i could grow up and be like her., get married and ...live happily ever after...."
certainly she WAS a really cool person.. i miss her ...jeanine..now needing to dye my hair to stay quasi blonde..

From Fuffer

The best memories I have are in later life when I was "all growed up". That's when we would float in my pool at the old house and talk about education kind of stuff. Aunt Mo is the reason I am where I am today. I was working in the ghetto at IPS when someone from Carmel Clay schools called her about a job. She was a teaching assistant at Sycamore School for the gifted. They were looking for a teacher who had a gifted and talented endorsement. When they told her it was a position for 2nd through 5th graders, she shuddered and suggested that they might call her niece, as she felt more comfortable with the middle school aged kiddos. Then she called me (it was about 9:30 at night) and told me to call this woman from Carmel Clay Schools NOW! I told her I couldn't--it was too late at night. She said, "You hang up and call her right now!" Well I did, but it was busy forever. I finally got through about 10 pm (seems this lady was trying to call me!) lined up an interview for the next morning, and the rest...as they say...is history! Happy Birthday, dear mentor Maureen! I think about you often.

Fuffer (Jennifer)

From Patricia Petts

I forward this to all so we can share our memories...

like the time I was having a really bad day at the office and she came
over in the rain to bring me lilacs from her yard. Or seeing her sit with Maggie as a little girl, counseling her on all the things Maggie was venting about. the lunches we had at Shapiros and the Marten house, me taking her to Sycamore with her little wig on. . her calling me at the office calling herself "mumbling Maureen" when I'd say "Purchasing, Patti", the day we went golfing and she and Annie were better than me and that ain't saying much. . .seeing her square dance at St. John's school dance, so much taller than the rest, but surprising me with her gracefulness . now too many sad ones are flooding my mind. . tata for now. .

LOVE you,

Mom (P Petts)

From Adam

I remember when I was 14 Aunt Maureen told me before I started High School that education was the single biggest waste of time in life. She made me swear not to tell anyone that she told me that. Mom just thought I was stupid.

She said that her love for reading, literature, and Shakespeare was all a ruse to keep the elders off her back as a youngster. She bragged to me that she would hold a book in front of her and pretend to read the whole thing in one sitting. She laughed and called everyone "suckers" for actually believing she was reading!

She told my sister to go into medicine because being a teacher was a "waste of time that could not be measured." Jennifer will never admit to this, because Aunt Maureen was right.

Aunt M. treated me like the son she never had. She always told me that she prayed everyday of her young life to be blessed with a son, but that she was cursed.

She hated IU.

My favorite Aunt always gave me money that my parents never knew about because she always wanted to be my favorite Aunt. She'd say, "Adam take this hundo, and if Patty or Judy calls you, tell them to go to hell!"

I hope she's laughing in heaven at this dribble. I know she's reading it.

Adam

From Zoe

These are so enjoyable to read...sniff and honk! Who should we write about next month? Come on other members jot a memory or two...I need a new address for Ann and I need to fwd this to Rob --don't have his e-mail either....Zoe
If anyone else was missed send them on--Zoey, Maggie......

From Gubby

Marnekabarneko...Marnalarnalarnalo...Moeleenturd....Moe...Moeleen...Marn...whatever you called her, she was the best! My nemesis...my protector. My big sister...my best friend. (sniff) A sampling of memories...her talking me into playing swashbucklers with our wooden sticks (swords) that we won at the St. John's picnic (what the heck kind of gift is that for a kid?!) and of course we had to stab at each other whilst jumping on one of our little twin beds (on slats)...the bed broke just in time for dad to poke his head in the doorway with nostrils flaring...playing detective with her on Main street...we'd imagine we had on trench coats, fedoras, and sunglasses...following people and making up stories about them (she had such an amazing imagination!)...sitting with her lovely new tortoise shell glasses on, reading to me from the book of fairy tales that dad bought her (and the Poopster sold and I will never forgive him for that!) our favorite story was East of the Sun and West of the Moon (it's such a weird story you can't find it anywhere now!)...and how she hated those glasses!...her rescuing me from Beth Banks by repeatedly smacking her with my plastic pocketbook...then smacking me with it when we got home for being such a wimp! (I gave her many occasions to call me that!)...playing in the elaborate grass forts that we neighborhood kids had made back by the tracks, and her grabbing my hand and running with me all the way home when the "hobos" chased us...laughing so hard at the bargains mum had found for us in the dollar bins at Langleys(?) on Main....laughing really hard with her a lot...the vacation to California with mum and the Richardville's where she hung out the bathroom window to smoke, stoved her head when she dove into the shallow end of the pool, and when GIANT water bugs fell on our beds after lights out and the manager said "them bugs shouldn't otta be there" her reply was "neither should we", and then the 3 of us sleeping all night in the car....her singing all the time....how proud she was of her first new car and her first job....her taking me out on a shopping spree with her new jinxes so I would have at least one nice outfit for college....always being there when you needed her (sniff sniff)...learning dirty songs from her and her friends...her sitting on me (so I couldn't move) and telling me ghost stories (wimp again)....drinking cheap wine with her and the Poopster until our lips were purple and then laughing like hell...her treating me to the musical "Hair" and the 2 of us dancing and singing on stage with the cast at the end...watching her stand on the table at the K of C in Greenwood (?) singing and directing the crowd in song...her running across the tarmac to me in St. Croix bellowing "it's raining you twit!"...her stretched out on a sailboat, her skin glossed with oil, and her later the same day so sun burned she was shaking and covered with the crisp white table cloth from our fancy water front restaurant...I could go on and on, but you get the drift. She was funny, smart, compassionate, loyal, creative, competitive, talented, and special. (sniff sniff sniff) And above all she loved her family. (honk) And I miss her every minute of every day.

Gubby