Elizabeth Lee Irwin, born on April 19, 1915, had been
given the gift of life. She has been a wife to one, a mother to five,
a grandmother to four, and a friend to all. Every person she knew
she touched every thing she came across she inspired. Now Lee Cronin
is 86 years old, she is my grandmother, whom I call Mom-mom.
According to Mom-mom, she had “a wonderful childhood” Every Friday they
would go out with her neighborhood friends and play hide and seek, they
played this game all the way through high school, childhood then went on
endlessly. At the age of 12, Mom-mom started doing her most successful
hobby, playing the violin. The violin was handmade by her uncle which had
been passed on to her grandchild who inherited the talent to play. Every
week Professor Baldwin paid a visit to their house on old Post Rd in Aberdeen.
They had an hour lesson and played Bach pieces and many other classical
composers. Every Christmas Mom-mom went to her grandmother’s house
with her brother Charles, and entered to the smells of cookies and pastries.
She has wonderful memories of her grandmother’s house in the midst of Bel
Air. Mom-mom has many fond memories of her parents. “My mother
was the antithesis of love, she had every thing in a mother that you would
wish for, even more!” my mom-mom says. She would make desserts every
night, she made pies, cakes, tapioca pudding, she also made light feathery,
sweet rolls, that were certainly a treat, along with the occasional mashed
potatoes and freshly picked green beans. During these years of carefree
childhood, Mom-mom went to Aberdeen public school. There she
made friends like Kitty Bremen, and Naomi Eberheart.
In the eighth grade Lee started school at the Jacob Tome Institute in Port
Deposit. She can still remember Mr. Redily, her science teacher,
she still has many tales about him. Mom-mom had wonderful memories
of this school. Every day she would go with her friend, Kitty Bremen to
school by train. It took about 45 minutes every day to get to school.
In the summers they would invite neighborhood friends to come over for
taffy pulls, when they did this my great-grandmother would make the blue,
pink, orange, and all the different assorted color taffies, as she passed
it on with a smile, to let the children stretch and roll in a piece of
wax paper. Almost every night of the week, the neighbor hood friends
would come over and out in the dark they would play hide-and –go-seek.
They never had any fear that something bad would happen. In
Mom-moms day it seemed like teenage hood went on endlessly!
When she was 24 years old, my mom-mom, Elizabeth Lee Irwin, now known as
Lee Irwin Cronin, married my grandfather Cornelius Cronin, whom I called
Dad-dad. Their honeymoon was bittersweet. Just as they passed the
Florida State line, there was an announcement on the radio,“ would Mr.
and Mrs. Cronin please call home.” When they came to the first rest
stop available, Dad-dad called, coming back with eyes full of tears, which
this was very surprising to Mom-mom because she had never seen him cry.
He approached her and said, “your mother died.” “How?” she asked.
“ The robe
that you bought her for Christmas, caught fire by a spark from the fire
place.”
My mom-mom says that she feels guilt for that but she thought that it would
be the most wonderful present because the house that her mother lived in
was an old drafty house. After that they returned straight home and
never had a honeymoon.
As years passed, Dad-dad and Mom-mom decided to have children and their
first was a little girl named Leslie. Next, they had Neil, the only
boy. Mom-mom said that he was the sweetest boy imaginable.
By the time he was six he developed a cancerous tumor and died.
Next, they had Wendell, a real tomboy that liked to start a bunch of mischief
that many times got on Dad-dad’s nerves! She once climbed down a
patio chimney, and got stuck. Unfortunately, she went down head first,
so she did not make it! They called the fire department and they
had to ease her out of the chimney. People in the neighborhood saw this
and remember because you could see two legs sticking up out of the unknown.
“She probably would have made it through if she had gone legs first!”
Mom-mom says.
As their fourth child, they then again to their surprise had another girl,
whose name was Elizabeth Lyle Cronin, yet, like Mom-mom, dropped her first
name and uses her middle name Lyle.
Later, they had another girl, Meredith Cronin, my mother, whose married
name is Meredith McKeon. “My biggest accomplishment in life was raising
five children to be so kind, loving, and caring.” Mom-mom says.
With the big crew of six, every Sunday, they attended church, where the
children also went to Sunday school. Mom-mom, in addition to all
the activities involved in being a mother, was also a Sunday school teacher
and brownie girl scout leader for many years. She also organized
the Bel Air Route for meals on wheels for 20 years. Yet, she still
says that the love of her life was teaching English. She taught grades
nine through eleven. When she and Dad-dad started their family she
quit her career and did one hard job, taking care of four girls!
Seven years ago, Dad-dad passed away. These years of my mom-moms
life were the most joyful, and full of accomplishments.
Mom-mom still lives in that old house in Bel Air. Mom-mom was honored
for her years of volunteering for Meals on Wheels. She was recognized
as volunteer of the year. They had a big dinner for this and all of the
other people that participated in providing food for the elderly and disabled
people were recognized too. I was at the dinner and we surprised
her by not telling her that she was going to receive the award. Let
me tell you she was surprised! There have been many joyous times
in my mom-moms life, but there have been a few bad things that have happened
to her, like a very close friend dying, her name was Dot Webster, she had
gone away for some time to get surgery done, not a doubt in my mom-moms
mind that something bad would happen since she was in a very nice, and
professional hospital. We always have dinners and feasts at my mom-moms
house, so we are all so proud of her and the way she keeps every one on
their feet, and keeps the family close, we are so thankful for her peppiness
and her health considering her age.
Mom-mom has lived life as many people, and her personal information is
what makes her unique. My mom-mom was born and raised on a farm in
April 19, 1915, were there she had a brother Charles, and a mother and
a father. Like any other human being on earth she has experienced
many cosmetic issues like pimples, braces, and all of the horrible appearances
of teenage hood causes. Never has mom-mom had a broken bone surprisingly,
that must be a thing that all of the Cronin’s inherited because we’ve never
had any broken bones in the family. Although Mom-mom has experienced
many health issues, we are so thankful of the health that she has as an
86 year old.
I will always remember my mom-mom as that peppy, loving grandmother that
I always had. Ever since she was diagnosed with macular degeneration,
I have always read stories to her. I read a story to her called Touching
the Light. I read several other books that I myself enjoyed.
Such little things that my grandmother I do together, mean the world to
us both.
