Matt and Kelly grew up with my children, Kevin and Jason.  We met Jody and Bill when Jody answered my ad at the local Giant for a part-time babysitter for my 3 month old.  We celebrated many of our kids  milestones together, and Roberta was always there beaming with pride over her two adorable grandchildren.  She  made a special effort to seek me out at family events, sit me down, and ask me to catch her up on my kids' lives.  Her genuine caring nature was evident to  "extended" family and friends, and I looked forward to these chats, even when the kids were grown and had their own kids - the last catch-up we enjoyed together was at Kelly's baby shower, and I will remember Roberta fondly.

In clearing out Roberta's desk, we came across a few papers, where she had written down memories from growing up. Here are some of Roberta's stories, in her own words:

 "My father had no brothers or sisters. He went to Canada to visit cousins each summer and truly enjoyed the farms as a young boy and as a teenager. My mother had 10 sisters and two brothers. [My parents] met at an Army Post where [my father] was stationed and [my mother] was working in the hospital on that Post as a physiotherapist."

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"My mother always seemed happy and quiet. She would take my brother and sister and me on walks in our Arboretum nearby. My Dad always seemed to be at work or on weekends and all summer building our cottage near Cape Cod. We always enjoyed helping him."

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"My sister and I always shared a room until I left to go into nurses' training. We had twin beds and had to keep everything put away and tidy."

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"Aunt Esther and Uncle Arthur were Gramp's cousins, and they and their three children were our special and only nearby relatives. They lived close to us and we celebrated birthdays together. Ruthie, Dorothy and Franklin were close in age to us so we did have fun with them."

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"I remember being outside a lot. Playing, picnics, short day trips, excusions to the zoo in Boston, Sunday rides in the countryside and a stop for an ice cream cone at Howard Johnson's sometimes. The whole family went together.

"In the wintertime we did a lot of coasting on our own street which was a Dead End (no traffic). Ice skating after school at a local playground was almost daily fun in the cold.

"From age 7 on, we had a spot on a small pond near Cape Cod. [My father] built a cabin there, and we all went almost every weekend and enjoyed swimming. We had a canoe or kyack to use. Pete and Gramp made the kyack in the basement one winter and then took it to Charge Pond to be used." 

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"I enjoyed all my schools truly, and any subject was interesting—history, science, languages. We had a French Club in High School. Team sports were great; volleyball was new to me. Tennis, I played a lot of—not in school, however." 

THE GATEWAY 1944

Faulkner Hospital Training School for Nurses
Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

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ROBERTA J KELLEHER
"Berta" 
35 Arborough Road, Roslindale, Mass.

Chief Like: Adventure
Chief Dislike: Mosquitos
Amibition: To run a boat, a car and a hospital 
Musical memory: "Sophisticated Lady" 

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From "The History of Faulkner," by R. Kelleher:
    
    "Dr. George Faulkner, a foremost physician and surgeon of the late eighteen hundreds, was a beloved charcter of Jamaica Plain and vicinity, His cheery optimism and kindly presence dispensed comfort as real as any medicine. He believed little in 'drugging' his patients except with comfort, support, and cheer.
    "In 1896 the doctor lost his only daughter, a woman whose work had ably seconded the administrations of her father. As a result, the doctor and his wife started dedicating all their worldly possiessions in memory of their daughter to the founding of a general hospital to safeguard the health of whole community.
.....
    "In 1943, because of the neeed for more nurses in civilian and military hospitals, the United States Cadet Nurse Corps was established. Faulkner Training School was accepted by the Public Health Service and now, our school is being almost entirely run under the plan of the Cadet Corps.
    "The hopes and plans for the future seem almost greater than the work thus far accomplished."

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The School Pledge

Reverently do I pledge myself,
    to the wholehearted service
    of those whose care is entrusted
    to this hospital.
To this end I will strive for
    skill in the fulfillment of my duties.
Holding secret whatsoever I may learn
    touching upon the lives of the sick.
I acknowledge the dignity and care of
    disease, and the safeguarding of health in
    which no act is menial or inglorious.
I will walk in upright Loyalty and Obedience
    to those under whose guidance I am to work,
    and I will pray for Patience, Kindness, and
    Understanding, in the holy ministry of
    broken bodies.