The Notorious M.O'B.

Notoriety can be a funny thing.

Around our house Martha is notorious for

stealing bed covers,

rigorous dishwasher-loading methodology,

believing that one can be a great navigator with a terrible sense of direction,

and being late for everything except airplanes.

But to her friends and family Martha is notorious for....

Snatching crackers from her brother.

Being forced to sit at the dinner table for eternity, her cheeks stuffed with chewed, never-to-be-swallowed vegetables.

Believing that a shoelace draped over her head was a reasonable facsimile of having long, straight hair.

A perfectly organized sock drawer.

Passing for under 12 at the Wellesley Community Playhouse.

Her favorite getaway canoe was a 17' Grumman HIN.

Buying a ticket to Portland but boarding a plane to San Francisco, then demanding an explanation from the flight attendant as to why they were landing in the "wrong" city.

"And why are we landing in San Francisco?"

Taking an hour or more to leave a party.

A velvet hand that very occasionally sports an iron glove.

Throwing an apple core into the change basket at a Massachusetts Turnpike toll station to avoid littering.

Groundbreaking advances in theoretical grilling.

Sending Christmas cards that include a real letter.

Throwing up into the last clean shirt of her travel companion, brother Bill. (Whose idea this was, to protect a kind couple's back car seat on a rural road in Ireland, is in dispute.)

Meticulously picking the stems off spinach or arugula for salads.

Driving around Chapel Hill in an enormous red boat.

Buick Le Sabre - her first getaway car.

Marathon phone conversations.

A charming ability to tell embarrassing stories about herself.

A large brain and an enormous heart crammed into a teeny body.

And her infectious laugh.


But,

more than all that,

she may be most notorious for being a fiercely loyal friend, daughter, sister, mother, spouse.



Happy Birthday M.O'B!