Thursday, November 9, 2023
40 years ago, I moved in next-door to Liz and Wayne and Liz was the first person to come over and introduce herself and welcome me to the street. Her warm smile made me feel like I made the right choice in moving to North Billerica. Over the next 40 years, Liz has always been a shining light to my day. In the early days when my kids were young, she would always come over and help me rake or shovel or just play with the kids and we talked about everything. She had the same close friends for most of her life and that tells a lot about a person. She opened up her arms and heart to my entire extended family. Everyone of them has greeting cards and handwritten recipe cards that they treasure. She often picked up little things for me or my kids when her and Wayne went to the Flea markets. Family was so important to her. It was impossible for liz to tell a story about a loved one without crying. That is just one of her many endearing qualities that I loved about her. The constant teasing and playful insults between my husband Jim and her made us all laugh. She often walked the neighborhood, dropping off vegetables from Wayne's garden and delicious treats that she had made herself. Her zucchini cakes are famous around here...although during lent, I referred to it as zucchini bread so I could get away with eating sweets. She never forgot a birthday or a holiday. Her Christmas card was the first one I received every year. When the mail with Lizs perfect penmanship on the outside arrived I knew the holidays were coming, She often dropped off a plate of baked goods during the holidays and my kids would make me wait until we were all at home in the evening before we opened them so that they wouldn't be all gone before everyone had a chance to look at them. She was so honest and trusting and lovely. I can't say that I will miss her more now that she has passed because I've missed her terribly these last couple of years when she wasn't able to come out of the house. I think of the many days she would stop over to my house for tea and we would share stories and laughs. I was frightened by her so many times when I would bring out my trash at night and she would be behind my garage sneaking a cigarette. I would scream and then we would laugh and chat in the dark. The street just isn't the same without her. I pray she is at peace now finally pain free . Wayne has been her angel for the entire 12 years that she suffered with this awful disease and now she will be his forever angel.
