Winter 2008
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Mary Beth Doyle
1961-2004

MB: Personal Rememberances

My Aunt Mary Beth

February/March Issue, 2006

What do you do when you are 22 and don’t have any long-term career plans? This was the question on my mind on my birthday, October 30th, when Aunt Mary Beth called to wish me well. I was in a hurry. My fellow 22-year-olds and I were running off to a Green Day concert, and after all, Aunt MB would always be there for a long chat.

It was and still is a shock to find that that was not the case. Sometimes I feel sick at the thought that I never got to speak with her about just how 22-year-olds are supposed to navigate life.

If Aunt Mary Beth had always had a good time being exactly who she was, then I could too.

That’s when I pause to consider just how much Aunt Mary Beth has already taught me. I spent my entire early childhood surrounded by an infinitely fascinating cast of 20-somethings. Aunt Mary Beth would appear from time to time with foreign currency, toys from halfway around the world, Greenpeace bumper stickers, and stories that made faraway places like Pakistan and Sri Lanka sound as familiar to me as Pennsylvania or Delaware. She sent postcards and letters that sometimes asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and other times described what it was like to mount a camel drunk.

As the whole family got older, Aunt Mary Beth became less a mysterious super hero and more a real role model. Her playful fashion sense and uncanny ability to find the really fun things in life gave me the confidence to navigate the treacherous waters of middle and high school. She shared her politics and she shared her favorite bands. She took me to protest the inauguration and she took me and the rest of the Doyle kids to fly a new kite or play skee ball. If Aunt Mary Beth had always had a good time being exactly who she was, then I could too.

So, as I put on my eighth shirt and third pair of socks and prepare to head out into the eleven-degree weather to canvass, I find myself wondering what the next step is for a 22-year-old with no clear career plans. But even if I don’t know what the next step is yet, I do know that I’ll have a good time wherever I am, that I have a clear set of personal values to guide me, and that, if nothing else, you can always buy great dresses at the Kiwanis for 50 cents.

So, while I never did get to have that phone conversation with Aunt Mary Beth, and the email sitting in my inbox dated Nov. 9 that contained her phone number still makes me bite my lip, I have come to realize that Aunt Mary Beth and I were having a conversation about how to live a great life the whole time.

-- Kerry Doyle

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