Thoughts and Memories

Dear Mark & Marjorie, Ken & Kari, Scott & Rachael, Steve AG, Rachel, Steve B, and the whole mishpocha, My deepest condolences on the loss of Alice. I think that burying our elders (or, in Alice’s case, fulfilling her wish to donate her remains to science) is one of the…

That Friday morning when Alice woke up and the woman came to help her with her pills, something was not all right. The woman left and came back with a nurse who found Alice in her bedroom on the floor. There Alice was when the phone call came in to…

You probably thought Alice was an only Child…  and yet… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbmm2PAngvs Watch the video above, then, if you think you can handle it, click the button below. This video was from a Forensics class at Lasel College where she and several other “villagers” (residents of the Lasel Village) put together…

Alice, who was quite tone deaf—see Annika’s post with Alice singing her own, unique melody to “Happy Birthday”!—loved jazz. (She also somehow was able to pick out a pair of stereo speakers that had such great sound that I promptly went out and got a pair of the exact same…

I met Alice in the twilight of her life, through First Church Unitarian in Littleton. We shared a passion for social justice. Around 2012 or so we took a class together on White People Challenge Racism at Cambridge Adult Ed, and  drove together to the class each week. I got…

Alice joined me and other FCUers on several Saturdays at UUUM  in Roxbury, MA, where we were volunteers doing projects or trips with about 30 kids, 6 to 11 y/o. She loved it, but thought the kids’ energy might overpower her. So she arranged with The Discovery Museums and Not…

Reading these memories buoys my heart, simply from knowing how one woman’s just, empathetic, enthusiastic life can ripple out and inspire the rest of us.  

Dec 29, 2005Jun 18, 2006Feb 7, 2007Dec 25, 2012Oct 22, 2016Apr 27, 2019 My grandma Alice: On Friday morning, February 19th, the day after my 22nd birthday, my grandma Alice died of a heart attack at 87 years old. Some of my friends might remember her visiting Wellesley campus: an…

These are photos I took of Alice’s apartment when we got there on Friday morning, the day she passed on. I barely touched anything: it is as she left it. As I looked around, it seemed to me that her apartment reflected so much of who she was/is: plants; sculptures…

Alice is an inspiration to me, another guide. Stay curious, choose compassion, savor joy- laugh a lot. I saw her apartment when she moved in. I loved the way each space reflected the personal. I’ve known her, and Bert, since my children were tiny. She always greeted the children with…

I knew Alice from gatherings at Rachel and Steve’s. She was always so curious and intellectually engaged!  She took college courses and had the sparkle of a young person. I was impressed by her independence as an elder, and probably she was always that way, though I only knew her…

Alice indeed lived a good life. I believe I met her only once or twice. I did not know her well, but from the stories I’ve read and heard about her over the years, I felt she was a friend of my heart. Her work, professional, political and for the…

Granma Alice was such a free spirited and positive soul. I remember meeting her through Mark and Majority, It was always good to be in her presence. I always wanted to have parents  like Marc and Marjory. I remember living with M&M there was one night Granma Alice was over…

I wish I could believe that the essence of Alice was still out there among the stars in some new form of being, but I must confess that I am a pretty devout agnostic, and I’m fairly sure Alice was as well.   Many of you reading this may feel differently,…

I’m writing with the sad news of Alice Schafer’s transition. I always say that I was lucky to have had Alice, my third mother, who entered my life 22 years ago to accompany me in adulthood, always supporting me as I learned the dance of juggling teaching, parenting, writing. From…

Alice picked up after a few rings the last time I called her, which was a pleasant surprise. It had been hard to reach her lately. We didn’t have a very long conversation and there wasn’t much substance to it, but I was glad we’d connected. She said she was…

You’ve all heard my story but now it comes with illustrations…. My Toyota Corolla changed from red to black to silver, all in one week! It’s been red for the last 12 years since Bert and I purchased it, and I assumed it would stay that way for the next…