Remembering Rosie

Mom's cousin Roleen Rennie Carpenter sent this memoire of her childhood to our family. It shows Mom's character and personality so unchanged from the time she was little. I think it will be appreciated by those of us who have loved Mom in her adult years. Thanks for sharing your heart with us, Roleen.

January 8, 2009

Dear Pat, Suzie, Bill and Tina,
Thank you so very much for all the e-mails with pictures for the past two years. This morning we saw Rose Mary's obituary in the Record Eagle. How nicely written it was. You did yourselves proud.
I have thought sometimes about the name Rose Mary, and just how Aunt Naomi and Uncle Cap came to name her that. She was truly a Rose, and had the faith of Mary. For a long time I thought it was all one name – Rosemary, But Rosie corrected me.
Rosie and I had the unique advantage of being the little mice in the kitchen at the family gatherings, and could overhear Grandma Sarah/Sadie Kratochvil and her daughters, Isobel, Naomi, Inez and Frances. They truly enjoyed these times together discussing their dreams (literally) and what heaven would be like. Their faith in God and his Heaven was a given . . . no doubt about it.
Growing up, we were sort of paired off at the frequent family potlucks. We were nearly the same age – well, I was six months older; a fact that Rosie reminded me of. When we were little, we would usually get tired at the end of the day, whereupon I would seek comfort in sucking my thumb and she her three fingers – each grasping our dresses with our free hand in a wad. When I reminded Rosie of those times, she adamantly told me that she had never done that; it must have just been me. She would never have hiked up her dress like that, she said.
Rosie liked to come to the farm where I lived. She loved seeing all the animals, and always wanted to run down hill. She did not have hills to run down in Traverse City. And so, we would run down the hills and walk back up again over and over again, until we were really tired. I, in turn, thought it was fun to walk around the block at her home on 11th Street, and observe how everybody had their sprinklers going.
Rosie was unique. She let you know just where she stood and how she saw things. Not really critical of what you thought, but definite in her views.
When were teenagers, Rosie and I had a lot of discussions about religion. Sometimes I would make some hair-brained comment, and she would tell me “what the Bible said.” From those early times in her life, she possessed a strong faith. Rosie and I worked at the same place in Traverse City in the mid 1950's. The firm was called Peoples Finance, and was located at 102 S. Union Street in Traverse City. On Good Friday the office closed from 1 to 3PM so that employees could attend church services. Rosie and I walked the several blocks to St. Francis church. It was a chilly day, (March, I think) but we were excited to go. Rosie explained that they were going through the Stations of the Cross. It seemed like we were there a long time. I noticed how people were arriving at different times and then leaving. Maybe those people coming and going were not as dedicated as we were. We stayed for the whole service. We then rushed back to work to find our Manager running the place. He said, “where have you girls been?” We proudly announced, “at church!! He then informed us that we were not required to stay for the whole thing. He had attended a Catholic service also, and had been back in the office a long time ago.
Around that time, I met my now husband, Marv. Rosie was my Maid of Honor at my wedding.
These are just a few of the memories I have. I thought you might like to hear them.
This is indeed a very difficult “goodbye for now.” The “for now” part is really the part that is significant, isn't it? You children of Rosie have been so fortunate to have this instilled into your very souls. She has accomplished what so many of hope to.
Sure, we will all cry. But we know it is just “for now.”
Take care you children of Rosie, and your spouses too. God Bless
Love,
Cousin Roleen