When I look back over my life, I am reminded of what Chaucer's Good Wyf of Bath said, "I've had my life in my time." And so indeed have I. It has been a rich, full life: a gift from so many to me...
Of course, first has been the gift of love from my dearest husband Keith (Mose), seventy years of love. Yes, like so many others we differed, argued, struggled together with World War II's Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, even before we knew the name. We just used love together. William Penn so wisely said, "Let us see what love can do.", and we did. So much love we shared- joy, laughter, peace at times-always deep love he had for me and I gave him.
Then there was family- early on my mother Helen (Oliver) Underwood, who taught me to enjoy music, literature, scholarship, and orderly living. My father Orison Underwood, instilled in me a love of nature, a comfortable sense of independence and freedom, but most of all a deep spirituality, a strong sense of integrity. Thanks to him I was a Quaker long before I ever heard of Quakerism. And then there was my sister Margaret (Peg) Schwerin, growing up together, she who so often led me, a support, the leader for the two of us, and so much fun. In time we were both married, shared our families. I still love her children Fred, Katie, Sarah, Mark, Jo, and Kurt as I do my own. For Mose and me, there was Michael and Malcolm, such precocious, brilliant twins gifted in music, in teaching, in literature and world affairs. Then came Beth, my strong, loving daughter from the time she was little, a support for everyone. Then Debby, who is very thoughtful and funny, also a gifted teacher. All four at times drove us crazy as they grew up and changed, yet they cared for us despite struggles, and all were my caregivers in my old age...
With those four growing up came their marriages to Ji Won Mosley (Mac), John Duffy (Debby), Lance Hogan (Beth), taking us into new worlds and cultures. Then there are fifteen grandchildren Anne, Claire, Marie, Teresa, Ken, David, Daniel, Elisa, Anna, Ian, Moira, Sarah, Amanda, and Mara. Marriages and different relationships have opened us to new cultures and brought many wonderful great-grandchildren. It has been an incredible family to love, each one. I remember one of my great grand-children saying to me as we were picking flowers, "You know, Great-Grandma, when you die just as Great-Grandpa died, I will come and take care of your garden." Yes, this is a superb family of mine, each and all tending their gardens in their own ways- our family heritage of love and caring.