Mary was our childcare provider for our two kids, Jack and Taylor Brady. Jack, who will be 20 this January, took his first steps in Mary's daycare, with the loving support of "Aureen" and "Ria" (Maureen and Maria). Jack thrived in Mary's care and Steve and I never worried about them while in her care. She was unflappable, including the time I forgot to pick Jack up one evening. She called me at my office at about 6:20pm and asked if anyone was planning to pick him up that day. We never did that again (we were new parents!!). She never complained and always made us feel as though we were a team. Jack met one of his favorite friends, Scott Sewell at Mary's and to this day, we keep in touch with his parents who have since moved to Boston. The day Jack took his first steps (he was a late walker at 16 months) Mary and Marueen made sure that they took a video of it and presented the VHS tape to me when I picked him up. We still have that tape and are so pleased that we didn't miss that momentus occassion. Taylor was another story. She was a very shy little girl and had this facial expression that we called "The eyebrow" where she would droop one side and give you the "look". No one messed with Taylor because she made it clear that if you weren't "in", she wasn't going to give you the time of day. Taylor LOVED Mary. Mary knicknamed her "my pin" becuase Taylor would lodge herself in the crook of Mary's arm and stayed there as long as she was allowed. I often would see Mary with her "pin" attached to her as she folded the laundry one-handed. Mary also gave Taylor a blanket to sleep with while she was in her care. I had to duplicate that blanket for home and to this day, Taylor still has her "blankie" that came from Mary, not from any one of us. Taylor is a Senior in High SChool and is off to college next year. She still drops the eyebrow, by the way. We all loved Mary, Aureen and Ria. Mary was loving, nurturing, and dependable. Our love and gratitude goes to her family. Lisa, Steve, Jack and Taylor Brady, Simsbury