The First Time

The first time I met Abbie, I fell in love with her because of her beautiful face, her beautiful eyes and her beautiful smile.  Later on I found out that she was not only a beautiful woman but also an intelligent, good hearted, talented person.  She also had a wonderful, peace-loving family and I am very honored to be part of her family.


What I learn from Abbie was that she loved her parents very much and enjoyed being with them whenever she could.  That was why we always found a reason to get together around the kitchen table for a meal, for tea, for meeting with friends, for catching up news etc…I miss these special moments so much now that they all had gone!


I was moved by her love and care for her parents, especially in their later years when they were frail and sick.  Everyday Abbie would either visit or call to cheer them up and to find out how they were doing.  When they were sick in bed, Abbie would hold their hand for a long time and tell a funny story to comfort them.  She would get up in the middle of the night to come right over their house if there was any health concern.


Abbie had peace in her heart. That was why she usually lightened up people around her with her happiness, her smile and her gentle soothing voice, her laugh.  I never saw anger in Abbie during 32 years being with her.

She didn’t judge people quickly.  That made it easy to talk to.  She also had an interesting story to tell so it was fun to be with.  She loved children and treated them with respect.  In fact she treated people with respect regardless of their age, color, religion, nationality…She not only believed in diversity but practice living with it.


Abbie was conscious of different cultures and enjoyed the beauty of each one.  For her, every culture opened up a new never-ending discovery.  That was why she liked to collect beautiful small things from different places, different countries.  She traveled and adapted easily with people, with their food, their weather and enjoyed being abroad.  The world was no longer restricted in one nation.


Abbie also was conscious of the plight of the unfortunate people who suffered through discrimination, poverty whether they were children, men or women.  She was not afraid to take actions to protest or to raise the issues for change one way or the other.


Abbie loved teaching and believe in children.  She believes that good education could change a person life and she worked hard at it to make a little change each day.


What I learn from Abbie was that her heart was in harmony with nature.  She loved to be at the Cape.  Abbie would love to pick the rose hips and share them with her friends on the way to the beach.  She liked to walk along the beach listening to the waves flapping into sandy shores.  She would collect some interesting seashells along the way or maybe some rocks…She loved to watch beautiful sunset above the ocean horizon.  She would like to watch the birds trying to catch their supper over the water.  She would walk the inland bay when the tide was high to look for crabs’ bubbles.  She would love to see a group of terns startling by her footsteps.  The sounds of the feet walking in the shallow water would make her very happy!


Abbie would love to pick blueberries with the kids. She would like to show the kids a caterpillar on a milkweed.  She would go down the hill to pick beach plums for Peggy to make jelly.  She would go over to Babe’s Farm to see the sunflowers field, to see the roaming chickens, pigs, goats…

When there was a full moon, Abbie would come to the beach at high tide to watch the gorgeous moon and walked in the moonlight reflecting water. 

In a dark night, she would like to stay outside to watch the stars, the Milky Way across the sky and to listen to the never-ending crickets song in the summer.


At home, Abbie was a good gardener.  She loved plants and cared for their beings.  She knew exactly where each one was located, big or small.  Every morning she would come down the garden with a cup of coffee in her hand and survey them all.

June 4, 2004