The Other "Mansfield Girl"

The Other "Mansfield Girl"

 Ave Maria!  Little did I know yesterday morning while I was writing my memories of Daddy that my sister Annie, the other "Mansfield Girl," was busy doing the same!  Yesterday afternoon she emailed to her Doug, David and Deborah -- her three adult children -- and me the following tribute to Daddy.  Oh, how wonderfully she captures Daddy's lively and loving spirit.  Thank you, dear Lord, for making us the Mansfield Girls!  And thank you, too, for my dear sweet Annie!

"This is the day…..39 years ago today, Richard J. Mansfield walked up Rodman Street, N.W., Washington, DC….a typical Monday, back to work, back to schedule summer day. My little sister, Alice Claire, the other "Mansfield Girl" happened to be with our father. So very glad she was. Daddy had just turned 81 on July 13, 1972, and was still full-time employed, taking the bus Monday through Friday to 711 14th Street, N.W. What a truly amazing man, a truly awesome father we had!! This is but a quick tribute for time and thoughts would crowd out the freshness of that all-to-sudden moment of having our only living parent leave us. Oh my…such great sadness, such disbelief. How much I took for granted those daily phone calls which guided me through early parenthood. Daddy had always been there, from his attempt to brush my hair as a little girl to quietly watching me become a parent myself. He even attended my first piano recital….and I was a mother of two little boys and quite proud to have my Daddy in the audience!!

"Daddy always sought out the best in everyone; gave all that he had for the betterment of a perfect stranger; found the joke in everything, especially himself; always spun me around the room for a dance, either a waltz or polka; and allowed me to chase down the nearest parade with him. His pockets were always full of lifesavers! Oh how I still hear his voice and wish to please him for he gave so much and still provides through his loving spirit.

"Thank you, Daddy. I love you, and believe that loving mankind -- especially my family, my sister, my children -- are due to being part of you. You have been constantly with me throughout this remembrance day. OH HAPPY DAY!!

All my love, always…

Ann Louise"

Ending the Old Year with a Bang!

This is a picture of my sister Annie in Rome from a few years ago when she and her husband John stayed there with friends for about a month. The longer you're in Rome, of course, the greater your chances are of meeting a big shot.

Annie is not a groupie. She barely knows what People magazine is and rarely watches TV. Like me, she lives in another world, and it's not populated with movie stars or politicians or other such creatures

Annie is big on seizing the moment, so when Fabio appeared in her path that summer in Rome, she said hello and received a warm, friendly hello and hug in return. And yesterday when John Travolta appeared in the fitness club that Annie and John frequent, she also said hello and received an equally warm, friendly hello and hug in return.

Annie is quite the dancer, but, no, she and John Travolta didn't pair off (no, at that precise moment he wasn't wearing his famous white suit!), though she could have given him a run for his money. Nor did she get a picture of the two of them together, but it was still an awful lot of fun.

That's my sister Annie! Seizing the moment and enjoying every second of it! To life! No wonder I look up to her!