Ah, my wonderful Aunt Esther.... When I was growing up, I always wished that she lived next door, rather than a couple of hundred miles away. The times when we went to visit for a week or so were heaven for me. She was a walking, talking smile, and she was interested in everything! She had married a lovely, gentle 'bear' of a man named Clifford Brooks. I was a little bit in love with him when I was 10....
Esther was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and Cliff was originally from western New York. He was in sales, and I have always assumed that his travels were how he met Esther, but that is just a guess. They were married in Cleveland three days before Christmas in 1936.
*UPDATE* -- She was a school teacher in his area of western NY, and they met there. I love newspapers....
When I was old enough to know them, in the 50s-60s, they were well settled in Chenango Forks, NY, about 50 miles east of where Cliff was born. They had a wonderful property, the ultimate dream of an "always outdoors" kid like me.
Esther was a high school English teacher (And, yes, got lots of ribbing about "Our Miss Brooks". Google it....) and she loved words, like I did. At breakfast, in the nook, with the view of the hills behind the house, we always had crossword puzzles with our English muffins. She was also a wonderful watercolor artist. Beautiful, subtle landscapes and nature studies. I truly wish that I had a few of her pieces now.
Then Uncle Cliff would go to the barn and get out the tractor, and let me "drive" (on his lap, with his hand 2 inches from the wheel, and his foot hovering over the brake) up the hill and across the pasture to the spring-fed pond. First place I got my toes in muck to go swimming. And, as usual for me, I came back to the house with a couple of 'really cool' specimens of the slithering, slimy sort. And Aunt Esther would be interested in those, too! Amazing....
Esther was always willing to talk to us kids, was always fascinating to listen to, and she always listened back. Cliff was always there for us, always willing to help in our 'adventures', and always patient with foibles and minor mischief.
If they had had any children, I would love to meet them. I suspect that they would also be marvelous people. But there were no children born to them. There were some 'children', however. A great many years later, when Esther was in an assisted-living apartment many miles from where she had taught, living with her sister Ruth, she still received occasional letters from a couple of her 'kids' - people she had taught in English classes, years before, in Chenango Forks. She apparently stuck in their minds, and was lodged in their hearts, too. I understand why.
In memory of, and with gratitude to:
Esther Bertis Peck, b 1910, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, dau of Remington Peck and Mable Ruby Dowd. (Esther was my father's older sister.)
Clifford Brooks, b 1909, Mecklenburg, Schuyler, New York, son of John Brooks and Mary Kilmer
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