InMemorium

Mom was known by many names to many people. To her childhood friends she was Mazie, to her husband she was Maime, to her grandchildren she was Mo but to us, her children she was just Mom.

She was the youngest of four girls born to Jenny and Charlie Guidi in Charlestown, Massachusetts on January 1, 1921. I'm told she was the apple of her father's eye. Charlie, a former boxer whose ring name was Charlie Garter, took little Mazie everywhere with him. She spent many an afternoon at the Gym where her father instructed many a young fighter in the Manly Art of Self Defense. Mazie was proud to be Charlie Garter's daughter. She learned, at an early age, the benefits of the Jab, the Hook, the Right Cross and the Upper Cut. Skills that our Dad would learn to respect in years to come.

Mom was a woman of quiet dignity, a compassionate heart and a strong spirit. She had a smile that would light up a room. People who met her loved her.

Mom loved children. She had a heart that embraced, not only her own children and those of her sisters, but children to whom circumstances had given a difficult start in life. Mom, with Dad's blessing, took in many foster children for the Catholic Charitable Bureau. She nurtured them until such time as the Bureau found them a more permanent, loving home. Mom treated these children as if they were her own. It was more than just a job for her and she cherished each little life that was left in her keeping. In recent years she, and we, were fortunate in reconnecting with one little boy who meant more to us than all the others. Now grown to manhood with a family of his own he replaced a piece of her heart that had been missing for a long, long time.

Mom delighted in the achievements of her children. She also felt the pain of our disappointments. She did encourage each of us in whatever talents we might have but she had one unshakeable rule. "No showing off!" There would be no swelled egos in her house. She would say to us, "Nobody likes a show-off!"

Mom was a very energetic woman who loved to be out and about. She enjoyed swimming, diving, water skiing, aerobics and horseback riding. With her daughters, Jane and Mary, she once participated in an aerobics marathon at a shopping mall. She took up horseback riding in her fifties, training at the Andover Riding Academy, and won several ribbons for jumping.

As for the swimming and diving...Mom loved the beach. Specifically Sagamore Beach on Cape Cod. She instilled in us a love of the ocean. She taught us to swim and dive off the rocky jetties. She even taught us the little known but immensely popular (if only for comedy relief) Guidi Float. The Olympic Committee is still resisting including it in the Summer Olympics.

Mom had the itchy foot of the World Traveler. She always wanted to see what was over the next hill. She swam in the turquoise waters of Bermuda, cruised the Bahamas, walked down the streets of Europe and snorkeled in Kealekakua Bay. I've even seen a picture of her riding a camel in Morocco. But of all the places she had seen I believe her first love was always Sagamore Beach. She loved walking her three miles up and down Phillips Road and saying hello to all her friends along the way. And she had many.

There are those who believe that heaven manifests itself in ways specific to each indivisual. I think, for Mom, heaven is a warm, sunny day walking down Phillips Road with her friends and family who had gone before her. Mel and Mary Kent, John Hancock, her sisters Betty and Fran to name a few.

Just remember, Mom, to slow down a bit. They don't walk as fast as you do and nobody likes a show-off.

Love,

Paul