Shorttakes
A loving note about one of our dearest friends.
Just this week, we learned that our friend Phyllis Proctor was not doing well & was in hospice care. She slipped away to a better place EARLY Tuesday morning, making sure to hang around for her husband Jim's birthday on Monday (because she's always been sweet like that!). And while no one likes to say goodbye, I am POSITIVE that she was welcomed into heaven immediately by many who knew her here on earth & preceded her. If you have been coming to TSS for a while, you knew Phyllis. Chances are, even if you have never been to TSS, you knew Phyllis! One of the things we laughed about constantly was a game we played called, "6 Degrees of Phyllis Proctor". I mean, forget Kevin Bacon. In reality, forget 6 degrees! Most people you run into could get back to Phyllis in 3, maybe 4 (max) degrees! She seemed to know EVERYONE! And lest you think she was born & raised here, nooooo....she grew up in a small town in Virginia (thus her lovely light southern accent ~ aaahhhhh...) & moved to PA during her high school years.
I have so many awesome memories of Phyllis ~ as many of y'all do too ~ and I'll share just a few.
One thing that always cracked me up was her ability to be in the right place to get a good deal! Good grief! She would come to work with a cute new outfit & we'd all ask her for the details... And it was ALWAYS, "Oh, well I was at Strawbridges & it was Clover Day, so it was 50% off, and then because I'm a senior it was 20% off & they handed me a coupon when I walked in & it was in my size on the clearance rack & ....& .... &... it was originally $200 & I got if for $1.59." Not kidding. And it was never like she went looking for deals ~ they just fell in her lap! Seriously, it got to be a competition amongst the rest of us to see who could COME CLOSE to getting a Phyllis deal! I kept waiting for the day she came in & said, "Oh, this ol' thing? It was $5,000 originally & they paid me to take it." Would not have been surprised. Any time I get a good deal (like anything more than 10% off), I feel like I got a Phyllis deal. Rarely happens, but I keep trying....
Her husband Jim worked for Pepperidge Farm for a long time. So we would occasionally get goodies that "fell off the truck" ~ including "new releases". As you can imagine, they never lasted long around here!
And speaking of Jim, he was very involved with BYC (Brandywine Youth Club) when their kids Bobby & Dana were small. Wasn't that hilarious when Jimmy & Chris started playing sports there? Phyllis would tell me about the early days of BYC when it basically was just an empty field closer to Rt 1 & Rt 202, sharing stories of getting it really up & going, manning the "snackbar" from a cooler & a grill, running the gauntlet of over-reaching parents... And while much has changed at BYC, much has not (mostly good...some maybe not so much!). I remember one summer when both boys were playing travel BYC baseball & they were playing out in Oxford near where Phyllis & Jim had moved. Well, wouldn't you know it, they just stopped by to watch the game! And half of everyone there knew them (of course!). Also, just as an aside, Oxford had one of my least favorite fields ~ nothing wrong with the fields themselves, but...the bathrooms...ugh! And if you know anything about kids' baseball, you know that we judge every field by 2 things: bathrooms & snackbars (Newtown-Edgemont for the WIN in this area...best snackbar food & decent bathrooms!).
Phyllis was a wonderful stitcher & even more than that, she loved helping any stitcher that came by the shop. She had a welcoming, encouraging way of making everyone glad they stopped by that day ~ even if it was just for a skein of floss. She was our resident "electric fingers" ~ a quick stitcher, who got things done (no comments about my lack of ability here...).
Whenever one of us felt crummy around here, Phyllis would generally tell us to head home & "pile up". I cannot tell you how often I use that phrase ~ sometimes I just need to pile up even when I'm not feeling crummy. And I can still hear Phyllis saying it, which makes it absolutely okay for me to do!
Needless to say, her pride & joy was her family: her husband Jim, her kids Bobby & Dana (who also worked with us at the shop!), and her grand-daughters Devon & Bailey. Man, we watched Devon & Bailey grow up in the shop. One summer they came in & spent a couple weeks helping out ~ we had them painting frames, sorting floss, all kinds of things! Then there was Tyler, who is Dana's stepson, who christened her Gigi ~ the perfect extra grandma name for her! Around here Tyler became known as the 3rd most famous groundhog in PA (no, he's NOT a groundhog, but his birthday is appropriate!). In addition, she always enjoyed it when Jim brought Honey for a visit! Honey is Dana & Jeff's pup & is the sweetest thing! Honey loved Phyllis, but Jim is her FAVORITE (pretty sure it has something to do with the treats he sneaks her). She also became a great-grandmom & reveled in that too!
As we move forward with our lives here, we will miss Phyllis terribly. I'm hoping she can temper Lise's tendency to torture me from afar (still haven't found the framing hammer, the favorite ruler & the calculator that I KNOW Lise has hidden from me!). And I will try to be a little more like Phyllis each day ~ everyone who was around her would always leave smiling. And at the end of the day, that's really the best we can ask for. We here at TSS are certainly better for having her in our lives.
If you would like to leave a message for her family, please feel free to visit the tribute page by clicking here: Tribute for Phyllis D. Proctor | James J. Terry Funeral Home, Inc (jamesterryfuneralhome.com)
Also, PLEASE NOTE: The shop will be CLOSED on Saturday June 15th as we take time to say goodbye to Phyllis. I thank you in advance for your understanding.
Hugs & stitches ~
Beth & all the first degree Phyllis lovers at TSS
