Helen Ruth Tereschak Turner Harper

By Carolyn Lee Harper Johnson

My Mother passed away on September 27th, 1982. It was the saddest, most painful day of my life. She was my best friend. I still catch myself thinking, wait until I tell Mom, or I'll have to ask Mom something. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her and miss her. I still dream that we do things like shopping, eating out, etc. I think that is the only way I could live without her, is to still be with her every night, if only in dreams. She is a large part of my heart. When she died it felt as if someone had yanked my heart right out of my chest by its roots. Its like someone cut off my right arm. There is a big void in my life that only she could fill.

One evening, my son Jim called me out onto the patio in our backyard. He said, "Mom do you smell anything"? I said, "Yes, Grandma's perfume, (she wore "Beloved") she is here Jim." It made us both feel good.

She was the only one I ever trusted to take care of my son, Jim. I knew she loved him as much as I do. I could call her anytime of the day or night and she was always there for me. I used to laugh because when my son was little and used to get mad at me he would always call his Grandma.

My Mother always used to say she wanted to live long enough to raise her four children, because it was so hard on her growing up without a mother. I could not have asked God for a better mother. She was wonderful.

She made me promise her that I would get a headstone for her mother’s grave and her brother, Joey's. She had purchased her father’s marker when she turned 21 and received the money from her father.

She sang all the time and had a beautiful voice. She loved music and one of her favorite singers was Patsy Cline. She even played music when she did all the ironing. My Father and Mother used to belong to a dance club. It was called the Grady BallRoom. My Mother loved to Polka. She and my Father were so good that when they danced everyone else would leave the floor and watch them.

It seems to me my Mother's room in the house was in the kitchen. Whenever I came home from anywhere, there she was cooking. The house was always filled with the aroma of something good to eat. She always made enough to feed an army. Also, a lot of desserts. My Mother was the best cook in the world. My Father was always bragging about her cooking. I still make her recipes, and friends and family are always asking for them. We always had an abundance of food in the house. It wasn’t until I was older that I could understand it was because she and my dad didn’t have a lot of food when they were children. They wanted to make sure we had plenty.

It was always Mother that made sure I had a lot of pretty dresses. I remember her telling me she loved ribbons. When she was a young girl she didn’t have money for ribbons for her hair. She always made us laugh, when we gave her a present she would take the ribbon off of the package and put it on top of her head. We always laughed.

When I was a teen and going out for the night my Mom would always try and give me money. She said she didn't want me to go without anything. She taught me to be independent. One thing she did not teach me was how to live without her. I still don't know how to. I will always miss her.

Another thing I never realized until I had my own home, was how clean our house always was. I can't believe all the washing and ironing she did for four children, my dad, and herself. Where did she find the time and the energy? She would even hang the bed sheets outside so that they would smell good.

Even when all of us children were grown, she then had the grandchildren all the time. She just about raised my Brother Jim’s three girls. They all loved Grandmas house. I remember my brother Jim throwing his daughters dirty diapers in the side door and yelling, "the dirty diapers are here Mom." she would immediately get up and go wash them. Then Jim would return later and mom would have them all washed and folded, ready for him to pick up.

And we all loved that Grandma, and Mother, and will forever miss her. She was the best person I have ever known. She was giving and loving to all of us. She made me laugh all the time. My Mother, my best friend, I will wait until my time and to be with her again.

Helen Ruth Tershak/Harper

By Marie Fender Polinsky and Dorothy Fender

Our Aunt Helen was always our favorite Aunt. We remember one Christmas; it was very cold and snowing hard when we heard a knock at the door. It was Aunt Helen. She had walked from her house on River Street in Wilkes Barre, all the way to ours in Swoyersville pulling a wagon. The wagon was piled with presents. It was during the depression and we didn't even have money for coal to heat the house we were so poor.

Our Aunt Helen had presents for each of us four children, also for my mother Anna, who was the older sister of Helen, and my father, Peppy. She brought a Christmas Turkey and gave my mother money for coal to heat our house. I will never forget her generosity, but mostly her love for us. We would not have had a Christmas at all if it were not for her. She was very young and not yet married, but had thought of our family and us. To small children, it meant the world.

We will never forget, she was our Santa. Dad couldn't find work and the times were very hard. She gave me a doll that I will always cherish, but most of all we will always cherish our Aunt Helen. She scrubbed floors for two dollars a week and had spent more then all her wages for a month on us.

She never forgot us when she moved away to Detroit. She got a job there and eventually married and had children there in Detroit. My sister Jean and I went to Detroit to visit Aunt Helen and her family. Aunt Helen sent us money for the tickets to come. We had a great time. Aunt Helen was always very good to us. She was also good to our mother.