BLANCHE MEDNICK

Dear Ms. Mednick,
Having you as my third grade teacher was one of the best experiences of my life. Your humor, and the way you respected all of us at such a young age made me want to do my best for you. Entering my first year of high school, the values you instilled in me such as the ability to be funny as well as serious will always be a part of me and my personality. Seeing you outside of school and in the Berkshires was a lot of fun, and I got to know you as a great person as well as a great teacher. You will be greatly missed by all who knew you.


Love-

Blanche taught my daughters irony, and they reveled in a unique form of humor so sophisticated for third graders. It was a secret language they shared with her. She also taught them that is was OK to make a mistake - to own up to it and learn good things from it. She taught parents the importance of self sufficiency in the lesson of a sponge. So simple, so vivid, so lasting, so right. She altered my life and the lives of my daughters for the good, and we were blessed by the opportunity to have known her. She is forever loved and will be greatly missed. She is at peace with Brian and the irony of all this. God speed, Blanche.

Hi Blanche. I was with you as you so bravely shepherded Brian through his illness. I was with you as you couragously put your life back together. I was with you as you went through surgery for your heart and your hip. Throughout it all you maintained your dry, self-deprecating humor and wrote beautiful poetry. With you gone, the world is the poorer.

Suzanne Loebl

I miss you already, Blanche. You continued to teach us in your final months, demonstrating bravery, spirit and good humor through your determination to fight this darn illness. It was a privilege to be with you when you spoke of your passion for teaching, and I took heart from your obvious delight in describing the learning communities you had been part of at Packer and, briefly, at Berkshire Country Day.

In the end, you took charge by making a choice - a choice of "quality," as the doctor put it - so you could be at home when the daffodils lined your yard, enjoy a decaf cappucino at Dottie's, see the service berry trees peeking through the spring woods of Monterey, and renew ties with family.

The good news is that Sadie will continue to bark so loudly that you will be able to hear her in heaven. And we will remember you.

Be well, friend.