THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 11, 1995 TAG: 9501100101
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Linda McNatt
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
This is a story about Mary finding a family.
She was a woman living alone in New York. She was facing spending the holidays with just a few close friends. But she ended up in a house in Isle of Wight with 60 people milling around and hugging her.
Mary Outerbridge, a retired hospital dietitian who lives in Long Island, N.Y., was born in Rich Square, N.C., surrounded by family - aunts and uncles and cousins.
But Mary was an only child. And, when she was 12, her father and mother separated. Her mother moved to Norfolk, taking the youngster along, and her father moved to Central Hill in Isle of Wight County.
Mary, now 74, remembers that she saw the family, particularly her father's relatives, infrequently. It must have been sometime during the 1940s that she last saw most of them.
Mary grew up, married and moved to New York. She was twice married and had one son, who died of a heart condition at an early age.
Retired from Mt. Sinai Hospital and still living in New York, Mary had attended her mother's funeral in 1967, an aunt's in '68 and her father's in 1969.
``I was under the impression I didn't have any more family,'' Mary said. ``I thought I was the only one left.''
But in the hearts and minds of all those cousins she remembered from her childhood, she was still ``Baby Sis,'' daughter of ``Uncle Jack.'' And one cousin in particular, Hester Washington, who has lived in Isle of Wight for most of her life, had wondered about her for years.
They were teenagers when they met, the cousins recalled, and they remember seeing each other only a few times, when Mary visited her father after her parents separated. And despite an age difference of seven years - Hester is 67 - they became fast friends.
But they soon lost touch. They went their separate ways. Hester was still surrounded by family. Mary drifted away.
About two years ago, after a death in the family, Hester talked to some North Carolina relatives. She finally found the right cousin - one who didn't really keep in touch but who knew about the New York relative - to ask for Mary's address.
Hester wrote it down in an address book - and misplaced it.
Last spring, while cleaning house, she found it. That's when she sat down and wrote to the cousin she hadn't seen for nearly 50 years.
As soon as Mary got the letter, she wrote back.
``In the second letter, I sent her pictures of me and all my children,'' said Hester, who has eight offspring.
``I took the letter and the pictures to my church, showed them to everybody,'' Mary said, laughing.
The cousins talked on the phone. They continued to write. Mary was filled in about all the family she'd missed seeing for so long. And she discovered that her 91-year-old aunt, Hester's mother, was still living.
``She is so cute,'' Mary said. ``When they were all here Christmas Day, she sat right next to me, patting me and smiling.''
Mary flew from New York and arrived in Norfolk on Dec. 19 for the holidays. Hester and her husband, Tom, picked her up at the airport. Tom, Hester said, was the perfect host throughout the visit. He drove them everywhere they wanted to go - to cemeteries, nursing homes, to visit other relatives.
The culmination of it all was Christmas Day, when 60 people packed Hester and Tom's small home inside and out.
``They were in every room, all outside,'' Hester said. ``There was food everywhere. It worked out real nice.''
``I have really enjoyed this,'' Mary said. ``She has waited on me hand and foot.''
``I wouldn't even let her cook,'' Hester said.
The day before Mary was scheduled to return home to New York, Hester was cooking again. Pig feet, one of her cousin's favorite things that she seldom gets in New York or takes time to cook for herself, were simmering on the stove.
``If we don't eat them all today, I'll get out my aluminum foil and fix her up a package to take on the plane with her,'' Hester said, smiling at the cousin she had never forgotten and had gotten to know all over again.
Already, the cousins are talking about another visit. Maybe, this time, Tom and Hester will go to New York.
Nothing's firm yet, but the cousins, who sat up until the wee hours talking and sharing memories throughout the holiday visit, agree on one thing. They won't lose touch again.
Mary has a family again. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LINDA McNATT
Recently, cousins Mary Outerbridge, right, and Hester Washington
were reunited after 50 years.
KEYWORDS: FAMILY REUNION by CNB