Mary Elizabeth's Memories
Daddy’s photos and my stories to post now and then
Why Mary Elizabeth?
The name on my birth certificate is Mary Elizabeth Coffman. Until I started first grade, everyone I knew called me Mary Elizabeth. Most of those people were my Coffman relatives and people at church. At school, I was just Mary, but those who first called me Mary Elizabeth, never omitted the Elizabeth, which was the middle name of my maternal and paternal grandmothers.
And, yes my father, Earl Coffman, always has been and always will be “Daddy” to me.
Growing Up in CoB
Although the Hagertown Church of the Brethren was my home church from birth to marriage, the denomination offered so many opportunities across the country that gave me relationships outside the Hagerstown church, who all nurtured me and cared for me starting at my birth.
The Youngest of Fourteen
My father’s close-knit family all cared for each other. Earl Coffman, my father, was the youngest of seven siblings. His parents had fourteen grandchildren, which made it seem like each of their seven children had two. That wasn’t the case, but I am the youngest of the those fourteen.
Why Share My CoB Stories?
As I pondered my opportunity to manage the HCoB website, I realized how much this task means to me. Since I live in New Mexico, visiting in person is rare, but because I see the weekly bulletins, the monthly newsletters, and many of the committee reports, I can stay in touch and know how HCoB is living up to the sentence at the top of the website: “The Church in the Heart of the City with the City at Heart.” Since I grew up a block and a half church, Hagerstown will always be in my heart, too. Watching the church grow has made me want to share my years there.
Why Tell These Family Tales?
Growing up where three of my father’s seven siblings lived close by gave me an opportunity to share much time with all of them and three of my cousins. Since those who did not live close by cared for their parents and siblings, they visited as many times as they could and gave me ab opportunity to meet and spend time with those ten cousins, especially when I was very young. As they youngest, they could have treated me as a nuisance, but I could feel love from all of them. Closer in age to the children of those cousins, I feel like a link between the two generations and want them to know more about their ancestors.