“Another Rose Painting” by Jean Stamper – Posted on FB January 5, 2020

My neighbor Charlotte came calling yesterday — the first time since she lost her husband a few days before Christmas.  She came to thank me; I’m not even sure for what.  It was grand to see her, though, and to have a visit.

It’s not that she and I have ever been “best friends” or that we’ve even done much visiting back and forth.  But our families have known one another for at least four generations and we’ve worked on various Oysterville projects together in the years since she and Jake retired here full time.

During the course of our conversation I learned that another long-time Oysterville neighbor had died.  Wayne Stamper, who had a summer place here with his wife Jean.  Jean had written a few weeks ago that Wayne was in hospice care.  When I asked Charlotte if she knew, I found that she was way ahead of me.  Again, Wayne and Jean weren’t our closest friends… but Jean had been coming to Oysterville all her life — since her mother bought property next to the Red House in the ’30s.  Four generations ago… or more.

Oysterville Women’s Club, 1932

There is something about a small generational village that makes the rites of passage among us more indelible.  Each holds significance beyond the present. I can’t help but think of my mother and of her friends Helen Heckes and Virginia Holway.  They had been neighbors for half a century and more; their shared memories sustained them and drew them closer as the years passed.  Even more so as each lost her husband.

It must be thus is every small village and hamlet where people have lived in proximity through generations.  Another plus for country living as I see it.