Chapter 9 - Gladys Holm, Children's Memorial & teddy bears

GENROZT: a gracious act that creates a joyful ache every time it is remembered

OPENING

Every time we speak of Miss Gladys and her generosities, my youngest sons - Emmett,9 and Liam, 6 - say that the best gift she gave was listening. Which says a lot, considering she left millions of dollars to help sick children.

The first time I met Gladys Holm was in an August 1997 New York Times article. You might have read it too: 'Teddy Bear Lady' Gave Her Heart, Plus 18 Million. It tells us that the smiling, smartly-dressed Gladys in the photo "turned small opportunities into a giant legacy to a hospital." ...

As a retiree, Gladys would distribute plush teddy bears to kids at Children's Memorial Hospital and, voila, their parents' financial worries would disappear. In her will she left the largest gift that hospital had received up until then. The largest before that was $10 million from Ray Kroc who built his first McDonald's about 10 blocks from our Des Plaines, IL home.


CLOSING

Each of us said a few words of thanks to Aunt Gladys then took the short drive to circle Gladys's block in our chili pepper red Saturn SUV. We liked that Gladys had lived across from a large park filled with families. Then off we went to lunch at the restaurant near the cemetery, the one where folks went to speak of the good times after Gladys's burial 15 years before....

"Humble," said Emmett. "Aunt Gladys was humble."

Best of all, the listener and giver who grew up on a Christmas tree farm is buried right next to a large fir tree.