Remembering Alyce

On August 2, we celebrated the life and mourned the passing of long-time family friend Alyce Doyle who passed away on July 28. She is pictured here on July 7, 2001 with my wife Susan and my stepfather Allen Fidel, her companion since 1998. Alyce lived 95 years, yet it's hard to believe she's gone. Alyce knew me from the year I was born (1950), and she and her husband Phil, were my parent's closest friends for decades. Alyce and Phil were literally part of our family, joining us frequently on vacations: to my grandmother's farm in McAlisterville, Pennsylvania, to my father's family's Cape Cod cottage, and to the idealic Bear Trap Farm in Mount Solon, Virginia.

Our families lost close touch in the 1980s when Alyce spent years caring for Phil during his battle with Alzheimer’s. Yet, she reeappeared by surprise in 1998 as the new, across the hall neighbor to my mother and stepfather, Allen Fidel, in their assisted care apartment in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Following the death of my mother, she and Allen became close friends and were inseparable.

Alyce was a bringer of happiness. I cannot remember a time when I, or anyone else, was able to hold onto a bad mood or temper while being in her presence. Alyce was happy to the end, and was overheard singing "You are my sunshine" moments before she died.

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