Ms. Benoit became my American mom when I lived in Lake Charles from January 1974 till July 1975.

She was very dear to me and I loved being with her. I felt she "saw" me and reached out for me. I felt embraced by her warmth and interest and I was forever grateful to her for her sensitivity, her immense hospitality and last but not least her sense of humor. I treasured all of these features in her and being a wannabe teacher I so enjoyed her taking me to her school and sharing her library. I still remember her joking when she noticed my astonishment to the separate staff rooms:-)!

Memories:

We spent Christmas Eve together and I was introduced to a drink called Eggnog - Ms. Benoit always wanted to make sure that I knew about all the American traditions!

She did not have a dish washer and I felt at home due to that fact and she shared her philosophy concerning dishwashing and hygiene!

I once peeped into her secret room that "noone was allowed to see" - and I was intrigued by all the books and clippipngs from newspapers!

Best of all events were our trips to the camp. Never ever in my life had I seen plants - bamboo - like the plants growing there and I learned so much from our walks in the surroundings: Ms. Benoit was a wonderful teacher and host!

After I returned to Denmark we met three times:

First in 1976 in England where she had signed up for a Shakespeare study journey. We spent a week together and marvelled at 3 plays together because she arranged the tickets. We saw two plays in London and one in Stratford-upon-Avon. It was great.

The second time we met was in 1977 in Odense, Denmark. The birth town of Hans Christian Andersen. We had traditional Danish smørrebrød and tea and had good laughs! We only had the afternoon together...

The third time was in 2000 when I returned to Lake Charles for the first time since 1975. I brought my husband - Anders - and our two youngest children - identical twins called Astrid and Naja - then aged 16! It was a 'must' for me to return to Ms. Benoit. I so wanted to see her again and I so wanted to share this wonderful and lovable person with my family.

Thank you, Ms. Benoit, for your genuine generosity. You rubbed it on to the next generation and I adore you for that.

Love, Susanne

The Sun comes up in glorious splendor,

The Sun goes down with the remains of the day,

Time marches on always forward,

How time does change us all!

My Aunt Margaret was my mother's fraternal twin. They were very different in many ways but had such a close relationship that often they would pick up the phone to call each other, the phone would not ring, and I would hear her say , Margaret ? They had called each other at the same moment, the phone did not even have time to ring. They were also both widowed within a short span and were very strong women who forged ahead and supported each other.

I have fond memories of Sundays at the Benoit house. My mother would make a cake from scratch every Sunday and we would go over to the Benoit's for lunch and a leisurely  Sunday afternoon eating desert and coffee.

I can tell you how brilliant my Aunt Margaret was--you could , and I often did, ask her a question about any random topic, and voila---she had the answer, and a very descriptive one at that. She had  such an amazing character, her many books, her sweepstakes entries, her exotic and fascinating travels, never a dull moment. She was engaged in life ....she loved tennis, her camp, bird watching, nature , her family. As I  called my mother I would always ask how Aunt Margaret was and she would say----oh she hurt her knee on the steps of the Parthenon, or she is going down the Amazon again... One very funny memory was during one of her travels, mother was to collect her mail every few days from the neighbor, Mr. Smellsor ( who grew fabulous camellias ) who told my mother to back up her car----back up her car ! ? She had received that much mail in only a couple of days--too funny ! Aunt Margaret always seemed so busy.....

Another deeply fond memory was of our clay bake ornaments that Yvonne, Betty, and Michelle and I would create  before Christmas with our mothers while perched  around her large round oak table. This was so much fun, and it was so inspiring to see how elaborate these creations became. I remember Betty making an angel with a harp, using wire for the harp strings (or was it Tiny Tim ? ).....this was a brilliant idea we all enjoyed so much. We then painted these , some were very 60's inspired....everyone was chipper.

We grew up, moved away, but in my collective memory I will always be amused by my Aunt Margaret.

Much love,

Liz (McLaughlin ) Marsh