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HONORING LENNIE ON HER 69th BIRTHDAY By Gene Murdock (December 14, 1999) Lennie's package is complete and will go out in tomorrow's first class mail. I included the articles from her siblings with a cover letter, a set of my MOMOMUs, e-mail for the last month or so between Margie and me, and a few circle-a-word puzzles, including one I made just for her. This should make a nice birthday surprise for a nice person. From Dotty Salminen: Lennie and I slept in the same bed for many years which did not help to make us "close" sisters. She had her Shirley Temple doll and I had my Betsy-wetsy doll. Lennie collected paper dolls and newspaper or magazine articles about Shirley Temple. I collected the Dionne Quintuplets. Lennie spent most of her time with Judy Moore, her best friend. When we were married and had small kids we were much closer and visited back and forth a lot. Teddie remembers that we would have a nip of Creme d' Menthe and would let our kids taste of it. Many times when we visited Lennie and Bob Don, as a small child, would make muffins to go with our coffee. Lennie and I were constantly comparing our canning and freezing accomplishments. We were both proud of what we had done. I still remember Lenny telling of going to eat lunch with a friend (I remember the name Roylene) in a restaurant near by and finding a wad of chewed gum in her casserole. Lennie was always the quiet, well behaved sibling. Actually, she hasn't changed much. She is still a great sister, quiet and well behaved. From Art Murdock: Thinking of Lennie as her birthday approaches, it's hard to get past that unmistakable and ever present giggle that marks her personality at every family gathering. I wish I could bottle that giggle and save it for times that I am down in the dumps. That laughter would certainly be the best medicine. Add to that bottle a nip or two of her yodeling and let the fun begin! There must be something very special about her that would give a bunch of us kids reason to ride our bikes all the way from Hubbardston to Phillipston ! (belated thanks to Bob for providing the ride home) Happy Birthday Lennie, and may you have many , many more ! From Margie Aukstikalnis: My earliest memories of Lennie were from New Year's Eve. She had a Hawaiian guitar which made the most beautiful tones. She would entertain us all with song, my favorite of which was "How much is that Doggie in the Window?" because she'd allow me to bark along with her. I also begged her to do a "yodel song, again" over and over. After awhile she'd suggest maybe it was time to play "Hot Potato" or "Button, Button", instead. I was honored to be chosen to be her flower girl at her wedding. She reminded me several times at rehearsal, that I was to take the little flowers from the basket and sprinkle them down the aisle as we entered the church. Of course when the wedding came, I forgot to sprinkle, awed by all the people in the church. (It was NEVER that full on Sundays!) After the wedding, mortified, I told Lennie, nearly in tears that I had forgotten. She quickly forgave, saying the flowers were much prettier in the basket, anyway. After the wedding, of course, she moved away from home. I missed her so much, that one day I decided to call her on the phone. At five years old, I had learned to read enough to get by, and found the envelope by the phone that listed "Gardner: 10 cents" I knew that she had moved to Gardner, and her number was in the front of the phone book so I went to Mom's cash drawer and took a dime, placed it in the envelope and called my missing sister. Of course she was working so didn't answer the phone. The operator was so helpful: "Would you like me to keep trying?" "Oh YES!!, PLEASE". And she kept trying until Mom came in from the clothesline and the operator called and said there was still no answer....... Exit Margie to her room. The biggest thrill was when Art and I were allowed to ride our bikes to Phillipston to visit Lennie. Just the two of us. No adults or big kids needed! It was a long, long ride. We stopped a couple times on the way to munch on some crackers and give each other a pep talk that we could make it all the way. What a thrill to finally get there and be served Kool-Aid in those pretty, tall, aluminum drinking cups: Green, gold, blue and red. So pretty. And despite the fact that she had at least one or two children of her own by then, she would entertain us for the afternoon and then pack us and our bikes in the back of the pickup truck and drive us all the way back to Hubbardston. As I grew I learned so much from Lennie, about canning, cooking, picking apples and pears and chasing loose pigs and cows. It was always exciting to visit the Schlicke farm. Even the year they lost "Schlicke's sixty-six-sick chicks". Only Len could find a little humor in such a tragedy. She taught me to be frugal. She didn't buy paper towel when her kids were young. "Why spend money on something to throw away when I can use these rags over and over and over again?!" When I think of Lennie I think of green olives, good music, smiles ( she always does), and puppies. Blueberries, jokes, pear trees, and mint jelly. Piglets, baby chicks, cows and apples. Trucks, weed-free gardens, smoke bush, and shell beans. In fact, I so admired Lennie when I was growing up, I find a lot of my life has been patterned after her, and I have built reminders of her into nearly every day of my life. Happy Birthday, Lennie. And many happy, healthy returns of the day! From Barb Distefano: Early memories of Lennie include images of her and her friends insisting on putting nail polish on me. I was fascinated with the polishing and rag curls or pincurls she would primp with. She seemed to have lots of boyfriends and always was very social and busy. My very favorite memory was later when I was dating and brought someone over to her house. We played cards and drank wine and laughed and had a good time. Lennie was very frugal. When refilling the wine glasses she spilled a little and promptly said "Oh, we don't want to waste any!" Whereupon she promptly lapped up the wine off the table. I too, love her sense of humor and very expressive way of telling stories. I admire her parenting and devotion to her family, and always enjoy her company. Happy Birthday, Lennie!!! From Bob Murdock: I remember that at an early age, Lennie loved all kinds of puzzles. A letter from her in December, 1993 showed that her enthusiasm hasn't waned. She went shopping at Cape Cod, and said "I managed to pick out a couple of CHALLENGER jigsaw puzzles. The harder the better! Just like good crossword puzzles!" At the end of this letter was a subtle reminder of how we should spell her name. She signed it "Lenny" but crossed that out and wrote "Lennie." After Lennie started dating, her siblings gave her plenty of advice. We conspired to inform her whether or not her escort was acceptable to us! But when she started seeing Bob Schlicke, we said in effect "Now you have the right idea. This is a Cathedral Farm guy. He's from good stock!" Now that they have been married 49 years, I think she, and we, showed good judgment. Nancy and I saw Lennie and Bob Sept. 18, 1999 at a banquet for the GHS Class of 1949 reunion. Ruth (Wells) was at our table too, along with Selma (Walkinen) and Rudy Mangs. Lennie obviously enjoyed every minute of it. I was amazed at the details she remembered about old times and acquaintances. And she and I made a plan to tour the Woodland Avenue neighborhood some time, along with anyone else who can come. From Nancy Murdock: It was our 7th or 8th grade year, I think, a few days before the Christmas pageant at school. Our "choir" was practicing, and I was rubbing a couple of itchy places on my face. Lennie, who was standing beside me, asked what was the trouble. "Hives," I said. "Andy had the same thing a month or so ago, and the doctor said it was hives." Lennie looked very closely at the small blister on my eyebrow and said very firmly, "It looks like chicken pox to me. I had them in Gardner, and that's what mine looked like." Lennie had entertained us previously by showing her chicken pox scars. "No," I said. "This is hives." By Sunday, I was miserable and covered with chicken pox. I missed the pageant (and Christmas at my Grandma Howlett's) and soon all the kids at school were itching and miserable. Betty Bumpus and I had apparently been exposed to them in Gardner when we went to the dentist, and since there had not been a case in Hubbardston for 13 years, we exposed a lot of people before we got a better diagnosis. We really should have accepted Lennie's diagnosis, which was much more accurate than our mothers' original guess. You can't beat those city kids for know-how! For her birthday, I should sing the alto part of "My Three Kings." I always admired her singing, and I loved that part. From Gene Murdock: I always felt close to Lennie, After all, we were barely a year apart in age, and one grade in school, so we walked to school together for many years, first in the patrols back in Gardner, then up the Worcester Road Hill in Hubbardston. In those days her name was Lenny, which rhymed with Henny-Penny, a fact which we let her know quite often, but at the same time I was "Gene, Gene the pot of beans" which she let me know just as often. I recall one day walking up the Worcester Road hill when she fell, skinning her knee which set her to crying. I felt terrible and remember wishing it had happened to me so I could have the pain instead of her. Although I never wished her any harm, I must admit that I was the one that threw the horseshoe that broke her arm. On the other hand she was the one that locked the kitchen door on me shortly before I kicked the door panel in. Lennie was the quieter, better behaved one of us kids. She rarely uttered a harsh word other than an occasional "QUIT IT!" to me. She had a great sense of humor, and liked a prank as well as the rest of us. She was a tough competitor at games, especially at Monopoly where she guarded every dollar bill, and would rather lose a game than give in on a trade offer that might benefit someone else. At Thanksgiving we all had to grab our olives quick for fear that she would eat the whole bottle of them, so to observe her birthday on December 21st I shall have a piece of cake with one symbolic candle on it, and a lunch that contains olives. |
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