Suzy Campos recalls with fond memories the time spent visiting her aunt’s house with her mother during Christmastime, partaking in activities such as listening to Christmas carols, receiving Advent calendars, and the annual Christmas stockings.
“They were both really into stockings,” Campos said. “Stockings were actually a bigger deal than presents under the tree themselves.”
Campos’ mother, Ruth Lacey, and her elder sister, Mae Pelissier, had an age difference of 13 years and were two of 12 children who grew up in the Florence area, but carried a strong bond between them that lasted their entire lives, including a mutual love of the Christmas season.
“Mae was like a mother to my mom, and practically kind of raised her,” recalls Campos, who as a child referred to her aunt as “Grandmae.” “But then as they got older and the age difference receded, it was more a relationship of equals.”
Campos described the two as going Christmas shopping together every year, listening to Christmas music and attending Christmas concerts. The two would also exchange Christmas cards with each other, often ones that were especially made to be given to a sister.
And true to the spirit of Christmas, the two sisters also had a strong love of giving back to others.
“As you can imagine, growing up as a family of 12, there wasn’t a lot to go around when they were kids, and they really knew what that was like,” Campos said. “They really carried that into adulthood, when they were able to give back a little bit.”
The two sisters gave to a variety of charities over the course of their lives, including to the Gazette’s Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund. Although Lacey died in 2014 and Pelissier in 2019, Campos, who now has children of her own, continues to give to the Toy Fund as a way to honor their legacy and love of Christmas.
“It really means a lot to me,” Campos said, “for my daughters to see their name in the paper every year and to honor them in that way.”
To be eligible for the Toy Fund, families must live in any Hampshire County community except Ware, or in the southern Franklin County towns of Deerfield, Sunderland, Whately, Shutesbury and Leverett, and in Holyoke in Hampden County.
The following stores are participating this year: A2Z Science and Learning Store, 57 King St., Northampton; Blue Marble/Little Blue, 150 Main St., Level 1, Northampton; Deals & Steals, 1 Pearl St., Northampton; High Five Books, 141 N. Main St., Florence; The Toy Box, 201 N. Pleasant St., Amherst; Once Upon A Child,1458 Riverdale St., West Springfield; Plato’s Closet, 1472 Riverdale St., West Springfield; Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters, 227 Russell St., Hadley; Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St., Village Commons, South Hadley; The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, 125 W. Bay Road, Amherst; World Eye Bookshop, 134 Main St., Greenfield; Holyoke Sporting Goods Co., and 1584 Dwight St. No. 1, Holyoke.
Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.
