Mothers and Fathers of Bethesda: Mary and Neal

In honor of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day this year, we’re shining a spotlight on some of the amazing Mothers and Fathers of Bethesda that we are lucky to have living in our communities! We sat down with Neal and Mary in their home at Bethesda Barclay House, along with their son (Gary), daughter (Beckie), daughter-in-law (Debbie), granddaughter (Jessica), and grandson (Kevin) to find out what makes Neal and Mary the guiding light of their loving family.

How would you describe their grandparenting style?

Jessica: Very involved.

Kevin: Definitely their love language would be quality time.

Is the grandparenting style the same as the parenting style?

Beckie: Can I plead the fifth? (all laugh)

Gary: They were involved – they went to all my games. My parents were always just like, “Did you have fun? Did you have a good time?” I was pretty athletic, but I was never pushed to excel at any of that, just to do what I wanted to do. And I think a lot of it, they tried to lead by example as best a parent can. I wasn’t easy to raise, that’s for sure.

Neal: Ooh let me write that down.

Any favorite memories with the grandkids?

Mary: How much time do you have? I would take them to McDonald’s Play Place after we would go to story time at the library.

J: And we always went to Five Below and we could get one thing and it couldn’t be candy.

K: We did a lot of sleepovers on New Year’s over the years and traditions like that.

J: I remember the popcorn and pancakes in the morning.

N: The sleepovers we did quite a lot. Most of the time they brought their sleeping bags and would make tents.

J: We made forts.

Any favorite memories with your parents?

B: When they had their 50^th wedding anniversary, they took us all on a cruise.

M: We’re going to celebrate 65 years and we’re going to go on a cruise with the whole family.

N: We took them [for the] 50^th, 55^th, and 60^th so this will be the last one and then [they] can start taking us!

Do you have any advice for young parents?

M: I had a saying: “I told you what to do when I was paying the bills and once you start paying your own bills, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

B: Did that ever happen?

N: She may not have said it to you, but she said it to me! You had another saying, you told the kids, “You may be the way you are because of me, but if you stay that way, it’s your fault.”

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