Tribute

The sad news that our small community lost another special resident just reached me.  Priscilla Nickolson Still was the inspiration for my study of foreign language, my neighbor while I was growing up, and she was a childhood playmate of my mother and her sister.

Like many of Scranton's high school graduates, Priscilla was my high school Spanish teacher. She inspired me. She loved the language and passed that love along to me. Over the years I have studied several languages, taught French and Spanish, and have had students of my own go on to teach foreign language. Priscilla did not realize how far her influence would someday reach.

As a small girl growing up, we lived just down the road from the Still family. Her Nickolson childhood home stood on the corner between our houses. I often walked to the grove north of that house to pick violets in the spring. Picking violets in that grove is one of my all time favorite memories. My first babysitting job was for Priscilla. Actually, it was sort of a shared responsiblilty with her oldest daughter, Marcia.  I liked hanging out with the Still kids, but I hated the mask that hung on the wall.

In 2004, my husband and I returned to our hometown where I again was able to spend time with Priscilla. I joined a discussion group at her invitation and enjoyed her visits to our home whenever one of her kids happened to visit. In 2009, a first cousin of mine from Maui came for a visit to discover a little of his mother's heritage. His mother and mine were sisters. We stopped in for a chat with Priscilla. He was delighted to meet someone with whom his mother had played with as a child.

When my own mother died in 2003, Priscilla shared a very nice sentiment. She remembered my grandmother Nina as such a nice lady. She recalled whenever she and her brother would walk to their home, Grandma would look out the door and with delight exclaim to her children, "Oh, looky, who has come to play."

Many people have wonderful memories of Priscilla.  So many of her four children's friends are undoubtedly sharing my sadness. I just wanted her kids to know what a wonderful connection, I too, had with their mother.

Marcia, Nick, Cynthia, Halle. So sorry for your loss.