She Served The Most Wonderful Tea From India

I am one who was shocked at the news of Leila’s passing.  I just went to her blog to see how she was doing.  I met Leila while both of our sons attended Bonnie’s class at the preschool in Oakland.  We went to the park together a few times and to her house for a play date.  I remember she served the most wonderful tea from India.  I spotted an Indian store the other day and thought I might go inside to try to find that tea.  I remember right after 9/11, seeing the photo of her and her husband in front of the World Trade Center. We had just a few good times together.   I left the Bay Area right before she was diagnosed.  She told me about it over the phone shortly after we moved.  We kept touch a little through our blogs after that.

I am so, so sorry for your loss, David, Joseph & Jacob.

Pancakes

I’d been reading Leila’s writing for a while before I realized that her family had become part of the Sequoia community. Because I’d decided that we were like-minded after reading what she’d had to say, I thought it was pretty lucky for me that now our kids were going to be at the same school. So, I figured out who she was and introduced myself. She was open and cheerful and joked about her changing look due to hats and wigs, instantly putting me at ease. We had many friendly encounters during the year.

At the school’s pancake breakfast last spring I took this photo and sent it to her. She wrote back right away with not just a quick thanks, but with this message:

“I love it! There’s something about the pancake breakfast that just makes me really happy. School kitchen with working stove, real dishes & cutlery, Dads busy – and that the club is seventy years old! It’s the best of American community life. I was a childless bohemian for so long that this sort of thing feels like a buried part of our past recovered and refurbished. My kids just adore these school events, too. It’s old-fashioned fun at bargain prices.”

I didn’t know Leila very well, or for very long, but I wanted to. I am very sorry for her family’s loss.

Leila Memory

I only met Leila once, although she and I knew each other in writing from being neighbors and being on the Yahoo group listserve.  I finally met her in person about 6 months ago.  We were both shopping for the same shirt at a store in Montclair.  I told her she looked really pretty in one of the shirts she tried on.  We started talking, and realized we knew each other from the listserve.  I really liked her quite a bit.  What a wonderful, warm and loving person.  I’m sure her family is completely bereft at her death.  It makes me very sad that cancer took her.  She was way too young, but she left a wonderful impression on this earth.

All my love to her and to her family,

Sincerely,

Mary Dresser

www.marydresser.com