These two wonderful beloved people have been part of my heart and memories for my entire life. Their love for each other, their joy in their family, their intellect and social justice concerns, their senses of humor — all of these shone brightly when in their presence.
I have a rainbow of memories of time spent with the Gallup Family — from Friends General Conference in Cape May, to visiting them in Pennsylvania, and having all of them arriving at our home in Baltimore for various holidays. I remember the Hollingsworth and Gallup kids hiding on the mornings when either they, or we, were to head home … we desperately wanted to extend our time together! (Our parents did not find this last ditch ‘hide & seek’ effort as amusing as we kids did.)
Like my sister, Jean, I remember Howard’s cartoons, going to Howard’s lab at the university and seeing the rat mazes. I also remember flying kites, running in the fields by their house, playing ping-pong, singing camp songs and generally having a great time together.
Up until the last 10 years or so, Fran & Howard came down to join the Hollingsworth Thanksgivings (a pot-luck affair that rotated between Delaware, Baltimore & Virginia among the 4-sisters, depending on who was hosting). Fran always made and brought the same rolls that her mother had made on Thanksgiving. Now, I make those rolls for the annual Thanksgiving rotation.
Drew & I started visiting Fran & Howard regularly after our kids moved into their own grown-up lives. It was nice to hang out with the two of them, run errands with Fran, take them out to dinner, and go to Meeting on Sunday before we left to go home. Since Drew is also an ardent long-distance cyclist, he and Howard had many conversations about their various cross-country and local rides. Drew and my brother Scott joined Howard for the Gap Gallop century ride (100 mile bike ride) when Howard turned 80. Howard was an iron-man, no joke!
The comfort I got from being with Fran & Howard, and then just Howard, cannot be overstated. They brought me joy, love, memories, laughter, contemplation, and always interesting conversations. Over the last year, we had a standing weekly FaceTime ‘Howard Concert’. He would great us lovingly and then spend an hour playing the piano - pausing between each piece to give us a summary of the lyrics and the history of the song. Not being able to see them in person makes me very sad, but, boy-oh-boy, do I have a lovely treasure chest of memories, conversations, laughter and piano tunes held in my heart.
Thank you Howard & Fran … with all of my heart!
— Carol Platt Hollingsworth Gruenburg