Tom and I have separate memories of “Mrs. Smith�.
Mine is of sitting on the back porch of the house on Main Street relaxing on the patio as the “adults� chatted or walking up the back road from the apartments. Mrs. Smith would be working in her flower gardens in the back yard. I’d sit and talk as she worked! When Tom and I bought our first house, Sylvia (I could call her that by then – but Mrs. Smith still came out) gave use Rose of Sharon seedlings from the back yard on Main Street which we proceeded to plant along the back fence our house on Christian Ave in Rochester; then when we move to our house in Penfield and now in North Carolina. I have passed pieces of Sylvia’s rose of Sharon to numerous friends and family. Her gardening is carried on through those memories for me. More frequently there was airplane crashed into NY harbor with Bank of America associates on board Sylvia had to call mom to make sure I was safe!
For Tom, they are a bit different - very dark, cold, snowy winter mornings piling a bunch of restless boys into the van to go play hockey! The two Welch boys and the two Smith boys together with their mom’s -all over NY State. Sylvia was a true hockey mom – getting up in the early morning s(4AM) to drive the boys to Geneseo, hosting weekend parties with the hockey team, and it was like she enjoyed it more than the boys!!
For each of us, the memories are rich and we keep her alive in our hearts through those wonderful memories
Tom & Sarah Welch