My Mom, Elizabeth Rachel (Woodworth) (Bennett) Richardson, was born August 28th 1909, in Worcester. Massachusetts. She was the oldest of 8 siblings born to Albert S. and Rachel Agnes (Green) Woodworth whom Mom always referred to as 'Papa' and 'Mother'. Later after Grandma Woodworth passed away, he remarried, a woman whom Mom always called 'Ada'. I don't remember Grandma Woodworth or even if I met her before she died. My only memory is of Grandpa and Grandma (Ada). Being a pastor, Grandpa Woodworth moved quite a bit.

  Somewhere along the line, Mom started to be referred to as Libby by her family and it stuck. I've forgotten how old I was when I realized this but I'll never forget it because of a commercial. "If it has Libby's, Libby's, Libby's on the label, label, label, you will love it, love it, love it on your table, table, table."

  Dad, Mearle Loughhead Bennett, if memory serves correctly (questionable), was a horseback missionary in Canada. When he moved into the states, he became an assistant pastor in Grandpa Woodworth's church. He and Mom were married on his birthday, November 24th, 1942. I am one of four siblings: Jim (Dec. 1943); Mom had a miscarriage; Bill (Nov. 1945), me - John (Oct. 1948); and Cheryl (Dec. 1951). Dad, being a pastor moved frequently as well.

  The following, I hope, is an interesting tidbit. Mom started high school in Pascoag, Rhode Island, then graduated from Greenport High School in 1927 while living in East Marion, Long Island when Grandpa was pastor of the East Marion Baptist Church. Both Cheryl and I graduated from Greenport High School while Mom and Dad were living in East Marion. Dad was pastor of the same East Marion Baptist Church living in the same parsonage Grandpa and Grandma lived in years earlier. Later you will read an article written by my Uncle John Woodworth referring to his memories of East Marion.

  Mom attended Keuka College, Keuka Park, New York (upstate), then a school for girls, and graduated in 1934 with a Bachelor of Science degree. She became a high school English teacher. She followed Keuka with Harvard Summer School in 1935. From her notes, her first teaching position was in Winsted, Connecticut. My personal memory only recalls her teaching in two New York high schools (Deposit and Hancock) and one Pennsylvania high school (Susquehanna). My brothers Jim and Bill both graduated from Susquehanna High School where I attended until my senior year. Luckily, I never had her as a teacher.

  Mom was an absolutely remarkable woman. Not only was she a wife, mother, teacher, great cook, there is so much more. We never had more than a sufficient amount of money, but we never went without things. A suit my oldest brother Jim outgrew would be hand tailored for the next oldest brother Bill. Later the jacket would have patches on the elbows and become a Christmas present for me. I wonder if this is how Vogue caught on to having patches on sleeves? Every now and again we'd find new outside door mats braided from plastic bread wrappers or large elaborate braided wool rugs in the living room. Many times she had me busy soaking cane so she could repair chairs. Once in East Marion, I remember coming home from school, the dining room table and chairs had been moved to assemble the frame for quilting. I found Mom on a car creeper on the floor sewing the underside of that quilt. But these to me are even minor. When I was diagnosed with diabetes, Mom enrolled at the New England Deaconess Hospital and became a dietitian to help me with my diet. You might even say I became spoiled with all the extra attention I got, especially being able to attend the Joslin Camp for Boys (all with diabetes) almost every summer. My only regret was that I missed so many Woodworth family reunions.

  Dad died in 1976 just shy of his 76th birthday. Remembering the year he was born was easy (1900). He always joked he couldn't forget his anniversary because they were married on his birthday. Mom told me later it didn't make a bit of difference.

  Several years later, Mom met a mason, George Richardson, a divorcee living in Wenham, Massachusetts, whom she married in November of 1986. I mention mason because after George could no longer drive, they signed themselves into The Masonic Home in Charlton, Massachusetts.

  Another interesting tidbit: Wenham is not only where George lived, but where my brother Jim went to college and seminary (Gordon Conwell), met his wife Martha who is from Danvers, Massachusetts, got married and started their family.

  Throughout the years, I found that Mom always had dreams of traveling. Day, even multiple day trips happened almost every year. Washington, D.C. staying with Mom's friend Major Jesse Hotchkiss, or Hershey Park, Pennsylvania, or Watkins Glenn, New York, staying with Mom's friends Elsie and Slim are just some of these excursions. Sorry, but I don't remember Slim's last name, but I do remember him being a pilot and giving me a ride in his Cessna. Mom spent a summer in Europe taking special training to retain her teaching certificate. Dad was just the opposite, never wanting to go anywhere other than two days camping with Jim and Bill while I was at the Joslin diabetic camp. I remember after I married and left home, twice Mom found a way to finance trips to Oberammergau, Germany to see 'The Passion Play.' Once Dad passed away and Mom remarried, we found George had the same desire to travel as Mom did and they went to Europe on several occasions and once to Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies.

  Two years ago (2007) while visiting Mom at the Masonic Home, she gave me a large box of 'history' containing letters, photos, drawings, trip packages, etc. One of these was a soft covered three ring binder with Elizabeth Rachel Woodworth embossed on the front cover, containing all sorts of information starting in the late 1920's. I'm presuming it was given her by Grandpa Woodworth, but I can't be certain. This document is prompted by that notebook. I have scanned it to my computer and included it here with my comments along side. My hopes are that you enjoy this as much as I've enjoyed (toiled) creating it.

                                                            John R Bennett