 |
|
My mother Phyllis (Phyl) grew up in the lovely Cumberland Valley, daughter of William Edwin (Ed) and Miriam Grace (Peg, nee Goodhart) Naugle. Her older brother Bill was, I think, her hero. I know she greatly respected, admired and looked up to him. Her younger brother Rich, born when she was 10, was a delight to her. I know she treated him like one of her dolls when he was a baby...taking him for strolls in her doll carriage. Both of her brothers and their wives, became close friends of my parents...it was easy to forget sometimes that Phyl, Bill and Rich were siblings.
In school, Phyl was very popular and was the head cheerleader at Shippensburg High School. As is only right and proper, she was the sweetheart of a football player, Dick Schwenk, whom she later married. Phyl was as beautiful inside as outside. It seemed to me that everyone who met her, adored and respected her...turning to her for a sympathetic ear, advice and help, which she gladly gave. She and my father had multitudes of friends with whom they frequently got together for an evening of bridge, or just listening to music, good conversation and lots of laughter.
Phyllis was also very talented musically, being an accomplished pianist and organist, and having a lovely singing voice. She played both instruments as well as the carillon for the (Methodist) church, and sang in the choir.
My mother put together the very best holiday celebrations for the family. On Easter, she'd color dozens of eggs, hiding most of them for the children to hunt on Easter day, but also creating Easter baskets containing lots of goodies, which would be waiting on the hearth for my brothers and I on Easter morning, plus nests containing eggs and candy which would be under our beds when we first woke up. Christmas was weeks of preparation for my mother, but everyone greatly appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed the results...the perfect gifts for everyone, the beautifully decorated home, and, of course, the scrumptious food. Even lesser holidays, like Fourth of July and Memorial Day were special thanks to my mother, who always gathered the entire family for a picnic. My dad pitched in on those days, pulling chef duty at the barbecue.
In all honesty, though, to make her more human, I must admit to some less-than-wonderful memories of my mother. Both she and my father were extremely strict, making for some unpleasant days for me in childhood. But, we became best friends as I got into adulthood, and I was devastated to lose her to pancreatic cancer when I was 30 and she only 51.
There are also wonderful memories of my childhood and young adulthood. Our home in Shippensburg where I spent my childhood, was in a great location for kids. The homes on our block were built in a big circle, with the backyards all pointing toward each other. In the center were several acres of common ground...I presume owned by the city. There were big rocks for climbing and for creating fun games like King of the Hill, Cowboys & Indians, Hide & Seek, etc., all of which provided my brothers and I hundreds of hours of fun. And we had big cherry trees in our back yard which were great for climbing and from which I'd pick cherries which were mostly pits, but my mother dutifully spent much time accumulating enough to make a cherry pie. Then after we moved from Shippensburg to Montgomery County, there were a few years of adjustment, but my young adult years also contain many fond memories. Besides the holidays, I thoroughly enjoyed Sunday dinners at Mom & Dad's house, and Friday or Saturday nights when my husband and I would go to their home to play bridge.
Phyllis was a stay-at-home mom but, after her chicks left the nest, she decided she needed something more to do, and went to work for the local paper (Ambler Gazette.) She soon became an integral part of the paper, and steadily advanced in both position and salary.
It was a great loss to many, many people when she died so young and she is missed very much.
