Living next door to the Bryanton's was so much fun.... and never a dull minute!! I remember when Nora caught her finger in the drain of the washing machine. One of the kids ran over to our house to tell my Mom to "come quick". I don't know how she got out of that predicament but it was just one of many. There were exlpoding beer bottles, lots of wine never given the time to ferment, missing chinchillas, cramming too many kids into a volkswagen beetle, and little red headed kids running around. But mostly I remember laughter, and love, and acceptance.
Nora you are loved by many and that is the greatest accomplishment of all. When you meet Dad give him a big hug from me and tell him I miss him.
Thank you Rob for this beautiful tribute to remarkable woman!
Ralph and Nora raised me alongside the rest of the Bryanton kids - a daunting task for anyone I’m sure. That's probably why there always seemed to be crabapple wine around to help all of the parents deal with us.
Christmas at the Bryantons was always mayhem and always fun, and they always included me and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Especially because they got to open their toys before me, unless they'd already snuck around in the middle of the night and opened them all early anyways.
Nora always treated everyone with respect. As kids, she never talked down to us, and she told it like it was - no pretensions and no games. With Nora, she said what was on her mind. With her, you always got the real person – no BS. By the same token, you couldn’t BS her – she’d call you on it in a second. This is probably why I never got away with too much with her. Even when she caught us doing something, you’d always end up with that sparkling smile and her laughter letting you know it was all right - no matter what dumb thing we’d done.
My fondest memory is of the “birds and bees” talk she gave us kids one day, as only Nora could explain it. That talk probably went a long way to keep me from getting into trouble with girls. (Obviously, David wasn’t paying attention that day - ahem!).
I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Ralph and Nora this past week. She Knew I was going to my nephew's Hawaiian-themed wedding that weekend. One of the last things she did for me was to have Ralph dig out a hawaiian ley with little rum bottles in it. It turned out to be a great hit and just shows that right up to the end, she was always thinking of others.
I’m forever grateful for the friendship that Ralph and Nora provided my mother when my dad passed away, so I’m sure my dad had the bar open and waiting for her, and somewhere, there's one hell of a happy hour going on.
Cheers Nora!
