After the Morris family left Olympia, Ellen always visited us wherever we moved to, and whenever she arrived, my parents lit up and had a happiness in seeing her to a degree that I didn't see with most other adults that came to the house. For me there was always the sense that Ellen was "their kind", and that along with making new memories, there were always wonderful memories to reminisce and laugh about. Especially in my childhood, most of those "you had to be there" stories they laughed about were before my time, but it always made me happy to see them having such a great time. When we were in London, Ellen was another American, and for a few hours, my parents didn't have to deal with being Americans among Brits. I would later learn from my mother that when they were in Olympia, they had shared the culture shock of having come from the East Coast. When Ellen visited us in Brooklyn, in our predominantly Jewish neighborhood, I remember them laughing together at jokes that mostly went over my head, but which had to do with being Irish and having attended Catholic schools.

Ellen was always so classy and polite.  On one of her visits to Brooklyn, my father picked up Ellen at JFK. It should have been about a half hour drive to our house in Flatbush, but he made a wrong turn. Ellen would recount that for the next few hours, she had the feeling they were not driving in the correct direction, but she couldn't bring herself to be the backseat driver and so had kept her mouth shut. Finally, when they reached Montauk, Long Island, my father realized that he had to turn around. All I can think of is, they must have been having a wonderful time catching up, to not realize how much time had passed. My parents and Ellen would retell the story and laugh about it many times in the years to follow.

Ellen shared our love of dogs. My parents were living at 57th St and 6th Avenue in Manhattan in 1991 with my dog Jenny, a red haired 50 lb mutt. I remember one day my mother excitedly telling me that she'd seen a TV ad for a dog movie called Bingo, and that the Bingo looked just like Jenny. That summer, Ellen visited, and after dinner, we decided to go rent some VHS movies after dinner. We took Jenny with us and walked westward along 57th St, past the Russian Tea Room, Carnegie Hall, the Steinway Store and the Art Students League until we reached the video rental store at 9th Avenue. On the walk back, some people walking towards us carrying posters and wearing white t-shirts pointed at Jenny and yelled "Bingo!".  As we got closer to 6th Avenue, more and more people carrying posters and wearing the same t-shirt all noticed Jenny and yelled "Hey, there's Bingo!" and "yo, Bingo!". By the time we reached the Director's Guild of America New York Theater, around the corner from the apartment, there was a crowd gathered outside. It turns out Bingo had just had its premiere in the theater.  We tried to squeeze our way through the crowd, and a woman came up to me. "Can he pet your dog?" she asked, pointing down to her toddler, who was babbling "bigo" and reaching towards Jenny. "He thinks it's Bingo."  People whipped their heads around and I heard things like "oh my god, is that Bingo?" and "look, I think they brought the dog actor". Jenny looked around and I could tell she was befuddled. I looked at Ellen and we totally cracked up. Jenny was having 15 minutes of fame. For years to come, whenever we talked about our dogs, this story would come up and I would enjoy Ellen's big giggle --she was always tickled by the memory. 

Little did we know in 1991 that in 2015 we would all be together again on 57th Street, at Carnegie Hall, to see Danny's high school perform. It was such a joyous and thrilling visit, and I will always cherish the memory of that whole trip, being able to visit with Ellen and Mary in their hotel and at local restaurants, and seeing my parents, the Farrells and Ellen and Mary together. I found a sort of tribute link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V1iHFNeyyA

For me, to remember the good times with Ellen, Mary and Cynthia is to know that home is not a geographical place, but wherever your loved ones are.

Quite simply, Mimi was the best grandmother anyone could hope to have and I am going to miss her so much.

Not only was she caring, loving, supportive (ideal grandma behavior) but she was also so incredibly smart, and funny.  two of my most highly valued traits in people, probably from her being a benchmark.  I loved and admired how confident in herself she always was, she knew her worth, and would not take shit from anybody.  Her competitive nature, and boastful mindset that she was always going to win is something that I have inherited fully from her, just one form of her tremendous ambition.   She introduced me to the concept of mind over matter, from a very early age..something that has been a core idea throughout my life.  She doted upon me, but was also stern when needed to be when I was bratty, she always wanted to see me become the best version of myself. As she did with everyone.   I coined her name Mimi when i was a child who could not say real words,  and she coined the name "the prince" for me..and I actually felt like one growing up with so much love, support, and resources given to me by my whole family, especially Mimi.

I am so lucky to have so many great memories with Mimi, throughout my whole life she was there to support me, love me, and join me in adventures!  the gold standard of a cool grandma

Some of the memories that first come to mind in the 33 lucky years I got to have with her
-My first stuffed animal/first friend Big Bear that was given to me at birth, and I still have
-Spending almost every christmas, and most summers with her my whole life.  Some summers my mom would put me on a plane by myself when i was just a kid, and I spent my whole summer in Emporium with my grandma and great grandma, just being a kid.  
-Her drawing me custom pictures of super heroes, animals, and battle scenes that I asked for as a kid.  Her drawings of hawks, and seeing them in Emporium started my fascination with bird of prey
-Her buying me my first video game console, sega genesis, and my second Nintendo 64, even though my parents disapproved, she didn't care, she wanted to make me happy :)
-Mimi and myself going to a summer double bass camp in indianapolis when i was in middle school, we found this italian restaurant near our hotel that we ate at every night, i discovered i loved caesar dressing
-Going on a boat to Victoria Canada and seeing Orca whales.
-Mimi visiting me when i first moved to college in california, visiting my school, touring around santa barbara, helping me acquire a keg to bring to a party, which helped me make some of my first college friends.
-Going to the Magic Castle in LA after i graduated college, the very posh invite only world head quarters of magic, both of our minds were blown when a magician did close up magic and used mimis hands to perform the magic
-her coming to visit me in Long Beach for my final year of college, she stayed on the Queen Mary cruise liner, a contemporary of the Titanic now anchored in long beach as a museum/hotel.  We had the sunday champaign brunch buffet in the ballroom of the ship.  the fanciest i have experienced in my life!
-I remember Mimi as loving and caring and compassionate a person as she was,   would never under any circumstances share her popcorn in a movie, but she would buy me anything i wanted.  We saw so many movies together over the years
-Traveling to Scotland and spending 2 weeks seeing castles, lakes, islands, and drinking lots of beer!
-Going to fancy restaurants, symphonies and a broadway play once (spamalot).
-I always loved bragging to my friends about how my grandma was some of the first woman to graduate harvard law,  that she was a successful lawyer.  My friend remarking that is why I like to argue so much
-Mimi actually meeting and knowing so many of my friends, and vice versa.  
-I didn't come to love watching sports till college, but when I did I loved watching the Seahawks and cheering them on with Mimi, analyzing players and tactics, flaming the scrubs.
-Her buying me my favorite hat of all time! the fuzzy one, if u know me u know the hat.
-and so much more....

I will always love and miss you Mimi, but your love, lessons, and experiences we shared will carry with me always.

 -The Prince

Ellen and I were classmates at Penn State, and we may share the distinction of being the only female class members who went on to law school. It was not a typical path for women of our generation. While Ellen's intentions were well known during our undergraduate years, the idea was more of a background possibility for me until some months after I graduated (in January '59) as I considered and rejected other possibilities. By the time I clarified law as a goal, Ellen was already at Harvard, and I spent a day with her there to get an idea of what I might be getting into. I submitted my applications and set off with my best high school friend for an extended journey (on a shoestring) in Europe and the Near East. Our ship made a stop in Boston, and Ellen, with Dick Friedman, another PSU classmate also at Harvard, came to see Liz and me before we embarked again for Lisbon. I came home to law school, at University of Michigan, which had offered me free tuition, and thereafter my contacts with Ellen came at Penn State Mortar Board reunions. It was always special to see her and compare notes on how our legal lives had gone, and I always felt less alone in my choice because Ellen was there just slightly ahead of me!