Mellie was from St. John's, Newfoundland and she came to live with my mother's family as the housekeeper when my mother was in the fourth grade. Mellie had dreams of graduating from nursing school and returning to Grenfeld Mission, Labrador to care for the sick but first she needed her high school diploma. Mellie's first name was Elizabeth, the same as my mother's, so to prevent any confusion she kept her Newfoundland name. My mother and Mellie both had dark brown hair, round faces, and friendly dispositions. When my mother told me stories about her childhood, it sounded enchanted and in later years it was a source of inspiration for us. She grew up with servants: housemaids, hired hands, gardeners, and seamstresses. Her father owned a cement factory and a lumber mill, four working dairy farms in the area, the largest parcel of undeveloped land in the city, numerous rental properties, and a summer home on Lake Champlain. The housemaids helped my grandmother clean the house, prepare and cook the meals, wash and iron the family's clothes, and can food for the winter. Mellie was my mother's favorite housemaid. She was kind and gentle to my mother. It was only Mellie, with her warm, sweet disposition, who my grandmother considered worthy enough to be alone with my mother. Mellie's room was on the third floor of the family's house. it had a small cast iron stove and a small sink. There was a large window that overlooked all the houses her employer owned. My mother looked forward to visiting Mellie in her room the evenings she went to night school. She would gaze in wonderment at all her books and how neatly she wrote her lessons. Other evenings my mother brought her dark green catechism to Mellie's room and recite her prayers. Mellie would listened , intrigued by the family's Catholic religion. Mellie listened very carefully even though she was a Protestant. My mother's family had a four bedroom waterfront camp on Lake Champlain. When they were there Mellie would take my mother's hand and they'd go looking for wildflowers. Mellie walked slowly remembering when she was young and pudgy. One day at camp Mellie got permission to take my mother on a hike to Lookout Point, a large hill that was big enough to be an adventure but not so large as to exhaust a nine year old. After Mellie graduated from high school in 1925 she went into nurses' training at the hospital across the street from my mother's family house. Mellie spent her days off with my mother's people. On those days my grandmother had the new housemaid prepare special dinners: fresh lobster, roast of beef, whatever she knew Mellie would like. Mellie graduated and worked as a nurse in Labrador. When Mellie was a nurse she converted to Catholicism and eventually joined a religious order of nursing nuns on Long Island. Mellie never asked to attend church with my mother's family who were very observant Catholics. Years later, my grandmother told Mellie she didn't realize Mellie might have been interested in going to church with the family; otherwise she would have been invited. Mellie later joined a religious order on Long Island, New York. Many years later when my mother stayed with my oldest sister in Centerport, New York, she'd visit Mellie at the convent. The first time my mother visited Mellie didn't recognize her because my mother had grown into a tall, thin, stately lady so she said, "If I called you Mellie, would you know who I am? Mellie rushed to her, threw her arms around my mother, and started to cry. These visits brought back happy memories for her of a privileged childhood and a harmonious family. During these visits the nuns from the convent would bring a tray of refreshments and serve them to Mellie and my mother. When my mother told me about these visits with Mellie, I realized how much Mellie meant to her. Later, whenever my mother and I wanted a happy story I'd say to her, "Tell me about Mellie. The last time my mother saw Mellie she was very sick, unable to get out of bed. Her hair was combed and she had on a little rouge, which she never wore when she was young, to give her face color. When my mother left she asked the charge nurse to have her name entered on Mellie's chart to be notified when she passed on. The next time my mother was on Long Island she called Mellie and was told Mellie was dead. My sister offered to find where she was buried and take my mother there but my mother said, No. It's too sad. On my mother's bureau next to her bed is the hand-woven, off-white dresser scarf with long tassels made by the Eskimos that Mellie gave her. When I was caring for my mother, she had me wash it by hand in Ivory Flakes. It was delicate and she wanted to take good care of Mellie's gift. I often wondered why someone from New Foundland would enter a convent on Long Island. My mother said she was told Mellie had a brother who lived in Florida. Other than that she didn't know anything about Mellie's family. She thought Mellie's background must have been above average because she always conducted herself in such a lady-like fashion.   Submitted By: NULL