Margaret Ellen Reese, her cooking

Margaret loved to cook and still does to this day.  She made Christmas cookies and decorated them every year.  They were always beautiful.

She made our Thanksgiving turkey dinner when she was 16.  I got lucky and snapped her taking it out of the oven. MMMMM……

We had a feast at 6633 Campana that day!!!

Margaret Ellen Reese: school days

Margaret was a smart little girl, and pretty.  She always knew she wanted an affluent lifestyle, and even when she was in grade school she chose her friends carefully.  She told me when she was 11 years old that she wanted to be a doctor.  And nothing ever got in her way.  Not poverty, not boyfriends, not all the jobs she took as a teen-ager to make her spending and clothes money.  

She wanted to sell the most Girl Scout cookies, and make the best grades, and win the talent competitions.  She wanted  everybody to smile, and make the best of things.  And that's what she has always  done.

Front porch of our Winspear Avenue house in Buffalo

When Bill was born we lived in an upstairs apartment near the Buffalo Zoo.  I don't have any pictures of that place; we weren't there long…but we finally moved into faculty housing on the edge of the campus of the University of Buffalo.  

Our address was 208 Winspear Avenue.  We enjoyed that house a lot. It had a great sun porch and a fireplace in the living room.

The lady on the left in these pictures was Bill's godmother.  Her name was Charlotte Claflin.  I met her through la Leche League.

As you can see by this time I was in maternity clothes again; Margaret Ellen was on the way.  She was born January 30, 1962.

Margaret Ellen grows up

Margaret always knew how to smile and get what she wanted.  She won awards all through school and was always charming.  She worked hard when she was in high school. She worked at the Sonic as a skating car hop; she worked in a dentist's office on Saturdays and she worked at the PIzza Hut sometimes until late at night.  For a while she worked at a dime store on Saturdays and after school.

She never let anything interfere with her good grades.  She started talking to a counselor at the high school about how to get scholarships and grants to pay for  college.  And it worked.  She was the recipient of an Edmonds Foundation grant for undergraduate school.  She had a VW bug for her car and she worked on it herself.

Margaret the actress

 


Margaret Ellen was always doing something creative.  She painted, she drew, she wrote, she acted in school events.

When she was 9 years old she entered a talent show at the elementary school near 4404 Wabash.  She choreographed a dance and set it to the music from the show "Hair."  The song was "The Age of Aquarius."  It was an original production number unique to Margaret.

Holiday dinner at the Atwoods' 1978

This is in the Atwood kitchen in Mineral Wells.  That is Patsy with the long braids.  Anne Flavia next to me, and Bill on the right.  In the background are Margaret and Mother, Ann Atwood.  I think the year was 1977 or 1978.  Look at the splendid turkey dinner!!!  It was either Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Edward Atwood, TR's oldest brother

Here are two photos that show my dad Thurston with his eldest brother Edward.  I am pretty sure they were made in Comanche at Lake Proctor park.

Margaret Reese is in the first picture with her plate in her hand.  Often in the early 1970's TR and Ann Atwood would take all 3 kids camping.  Lake Proctor was one of their favorite places to fish and camp.

TR and Ann had a camper or a trailer for a long time and really enjoyed their camping trips.

letters from Margaret summer 1972

Margaret, with Anne and Bill, went to Iowa City one summer to visit Hayne and Nancy.  She wrote these letters to me while she was there, using Hayne's typewriter.

Margaret Reese as an artist from her early days

Margaret gave me a hand made coupon book for Mother's Day when she was about six or seven.  the top page was the cover, and the captions included vacuuming, dusting, and washing dishes.

The orange and blue woodcut was always a favorite of mine.  I am not sure what year that is from exactly.

Margaret was in an acting group at the University of Buffalo when she was only five.  The players ranged in age from five to 22 or so, and their work was all improvisation.

Margaret was very popular with the whole company and had a prominent part in the original play that they staged at the local avant-garde theatre in Buffalo.  There were not sets, everybody wore black leotards, and at the end of the show the whole audience was onstage with the players.

By the way, the pillows on the sofa in the dusting and vacuuming pictures have tassels on the corners.

Anne, Bill and Margaret with their Atwood grandparents

I am pretty sure these photos were taken by my mother, Ann Atwood.  I am positive that the one below was made in the Atwoods' front yard in Mineral Wells.

And the ones on the right were made at Lake Comanche, when all 3 kids went with their grandparents on a camping and fishing trip.

art work from Margaret Ellen Reese to Mom

Margaret Ellen Reese starts school

Margaret Ellen Reese was always a pretty girl and knew how to smile for the camera.  I always bought red and navy clothes for her so whatever she wore would go together.  I am not sure which of these shots is the younger one, but they are from kindergarten and first grade where she attended Harlem Road Elementary School in Buffalo.  We lived in a duplex right behind the school.

Anne, Bill and Margaret in Door County

When Hayne married Nancy Mann a few months after the divorce, they got a summer place in Door County, Wisconsin.  The kids would go there in the summer for a week or so to visit.  I got lots of funny letters from them and some real good photos, some of which I haven't found yet.  But here are three that I am pretty sure were made there.

Anne, Bill and Margaret

The picture on the right is Anne, Bill and Margaret made shortly after Hayne and I separated. Bill was 5.  Anne was 7 and Margaret was three years old.  

The year was 1967.


Above is a couple of years later.  At this time we were living in Buffalo in the duplex on Harlem Road which was a block from the elementary school they all attended.

I was working at Hengerer's department store in downtown Buffalo as an interior designer.

letter from Mama Atwood re: Margaret Ellen Reese

Dublin, Texas
May 14, 1962

Dear Patsy and husband,

I have no way of (unintelligible) my  hand correctly so can't write very Plane but will try to.

I was glad to hear from you, and so glad you think enough of me to name your Baby after me.

I like the name Margaret, or Maggie. But don't do like most of my people do and call me Mag.  Mama and Papa never Did. My oldest Sister was named Ellen so you see she is named after two of us.

I wish I could send you something for her.  But I have no money now. (Mama was in a nursing home in Dublin at the time.)

Honey I have (?) strength so please forgive me for not writing more.

Love to all of you,

Mama

1962: here comes Margaret Ellen!!

Margaret Ellen Reese was born January 30, 1962.   She was named for my grandmother Margaret Atwood and for my friend Margaret Waring.

We lived at the time in a house that belonged to the University of Buffalo. It was on Winspear Avenue bordering the campus. 

From the first Margaret was a happy baby and very easy to care for. She had a sunny disposition and knew how to get along with people.