Mrs. Brown 12/5/1916 - 8/5/2010

I really don’t think Mrs. Brown fully understood the impact she had on so many lives.   She was so much more than a wife and the mother of two…her sons…Johnnie & Jerry.   She was the matriarch of a building; of a block; of a neighborhood; of an extended family.

The Brown’s apartment at 1070 Stebbins Avenue (in the Bronx) was a home to so many of us in our formulative years.   The door was always open…and the welcome mat out.   There was always activity there or, if nothing else, something was always cooking on the stove (the latter of which she freely offered to anyone who walked through the door).   Sure…she cursed you out about eating up her food…but a few minutes later…she’d ask you if you had enough to eat…or wanted more.   Her potato salad will go down in history.

Little did she know that she made her home a sanctuary to so many of us young folks…way back then…about 50 or so years ago.   She understood us!   She allowed us to be us…but we knew the boundaries.   She provided us with a sense of freedom…of comfort…and last… but not least…of respect.   It’s hard to explain…unless you were there.   And if you were there…you knew.

I wish I had a picture of all of us…more than a dozen teenagers…packed in the Brown’s living room at 1070 looking at that first episode of Star Trek on the first and only color TV in the neighborhood.   It became a weekly tradition.   And yes…there were pots of good eatins’ on the stove!   More complaining and cussin’, but we knew she loved us!   Not only did good food come out of that kitchen, but many of us sat shoulder-to-shoulder around that kitchen table during our legendary games of blackjack.   Again…if you were there…you would know what I mean!

Early, in our teenage years, we experienced a tragic death.   He was another teenager, someone very close to many of us.   Where did we find comfort and solace?   It was at 1070 with Mrs. Brown of course.   We were all in that apartment that day…dozens of us.   She knew.   She understood.   She comforted us through our loss.   It was typical of Mrs. Brown.

We loved her for the person she was.   She told it like it was.   She didn’t mince her words and didn’t hold back anything!   She affectionately referred to some youngsters that she caught misbehaving as knuckleheads.   She referred to some of us older folks in words unique to Mrs. Brown.   But above all…she knew right from wrong.   She helped make us who we are.   She had a heart of gold.   We loved her for who she was!

So Mrs. Brown, Aunt Merc, Mercedes, Ma!…you are gone…but you will never ever be forgotten.   You touched so many lives and we are all left with many fond and cherished memories.   You had a good long run…93 years!   We know that death is inevitable.   However, it’s hard to accept.   We just took for granted that you’d be here with us forever…but, you know what?   You will!   See you again Mrs. Brown…on the other side!