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My Mother's Bequest to RMC
My mother's mother, her aunts and uncles had cut the first Lion's Head trail on Mount Washington in memory of my mother's grandfather, who was also a devoted hiker. After having her own children, my grandmother moved her own family vacations to Randolph. Mom, therefore, vacationed in Randolph all her life. At that time, there was no air conditioning. The family came to Randolph for six weeks at a time to avoid the heat in New Jersey. My mother's first romances were in Randolph. She in turn brought my brother and me to Randolph starting when we were babies, and she had us hiking from the moment we could toddle-- though we never turned out to be hikers as athletic as her siblings had been. During her declining years in Wisconsin, she suffered from Alzheimer's Disease and fading vision. When she could not figure out why she was not in her childhood home in New Jersey, she concluded that she was on vacation in Randolph. Her connection with Randolph allowed even this confusing period to be more pleasant than it might otherwise have been. I know that she would want others to enjoy Randolph and the hiking there as much as she always did.
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After my father died,
my brother and I became involved with helping my mother Eleanor
run her affairs. Randolph-related charities were among those
that were particularly important to her.