Saturday, February 26, 2022
For the young people who grew up in the Old Neighborhood of Hilton Ave/Hoover Ave/Thomas R. Proctor High School, we are blessed to know a cross-generation of people from the WWI Generation and America's Greatest Generation (WWII). The older brothers and sisters of us 'younger kids' were the first of the Baby Boomer Generation that came just as WWII ended. So, we families knew each other rather intimately well. We attended the same schools -- both public and Catholic or parochial. A special bond resulted in our house-to-house gatherings or delivering our hometown's daily newspapers to neighbors across several streets or helping elders with indoor/outdoor chores. Neighbors such as Emma Rauscher and husband Pete proved pleasant and kindly -- that's the aura of the Old Neighborhood. Upon my recollections of the Old Neighborhood -- devoting stories about people who impacted my life in my column with the Boston Post-Gazette -- I realize how blessed I am they all came my way.
My genuine sympathy to dear friend Dawn, Peter, and Denise. And to Emma's grandchildren -- always know she loved you immensely. Her 'earthly existence' is absent, yet her spirit shall forever remain. "Eternal rest grant unto her. And may Perpetual Light shine upon her."
Girard A. Plante
Newton, Mass.
