Mary Lou Williams Eshelman
Newton, MA


Biography

After graduation from Penfield Central School in 1960, I attended The College of Wooster, and met and married my husband, Jim Eshelman. I completed my Bachelor's degree at Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve) where Jim was going to graduate school. Our two sons were born in Cleveland. After getting our degrees, we moved to the Boston area in 1970, initially to Brookline, where I received my Master's degree in counseling psychology from Boston University. We bought a small house in Newton and then, in 1976, when we decided to adopt a daughter from Korea, bought a Victorian in the same town. Built in 1871 and a little run-down, the house over the years has become (not without a lot of work!) a beautiful family home. Our first daughter arrived in 1979. We adopted a second daughter from Korea (each of them came at around the age of two) in 1983.

After getting my Master's degree, I began work as a counselor at two elementary schools in Chelmsford, MA. I enjoyed that for seven years and then began working as a social worker at Wide Horizons for Children, doing home studies, post-placement supervision, pre-adoptive groups, and information meetings. As time went on, I supervised other social workers and began doing program coordination, traveling to a number of countries where we worked. I made many trips to Korea, which was wonderful since our daughters came from there, and Jim and I, and the two girls, traveled there when they were eleven and fourteen to see the country from which they came and for them to learn more about it. I coordinated a number of programs-Russia (when I knew no Russian, which was challenging to say the least}, Taiwan, Thailand, and The Philippines, as well as Korea. In The Philippines I traveled all over the country visiting orphanages to see what they needed and to see what special needs children might need adoptive homes in the U.S. I knew most of the Filipinos on the Intercountry Adoption Board and we worked together to find homes for children. The ones I placed are now grown up, many married and with children of their own. I'm lucky to have been able to keep in touch with so many of them, many through Facebook.

I worked at Wide Horizons for almost thirty years and then decided to change jobs (I tell people I wasn't really "retiring") and become a potter and fused glass artist. I had been taking ceramics lessons while still working at several studios in the Boston area and finally became a member of the Ceramics Guild at Lexington Arts and Crafts Society, working at the ceramics studio there to make functional pottery. Twelve years ago, Jim and I planned and created my home studio, with everything I needed to make and fire both pottery and glass. I now sell my work at Periwinkle Glassworks (pottery and glass) and LexArt in Lexington, MA, as well as at Newton Open Studios in the spring.

We are lucky to have our four adult "kids" living in our area of MA. Oldest son, Chris, is currently living with us until he finds an apartment he likes and is working at the local hospital. Second son, Tim, and wife Stephanie live in Arlington, MA and have two children who are now 19 and 21. Tim works as a manager at Microsoft's Boston office.

Julie, our older daughter and her husband, Kelby, live 5 minutes from us in Waltham, MA and Kelby works at the same hospital as Chris while Julie works from home at an insurance company. Our youngest is Emily, married to Daniel, and they live in Franklin, MA, only 35 minutes from us (when there's no Boston-style heavy traffic). Emily works at an insurance agency and Daniel does sales evaluations for a scaffolding company that's done some of the biggest jobs in the Boston area. We're very lucky to be able to see all of them on holidays, birthdays, and just when they drop in. This past fall (2022) we had a wonderful outdoor wedding for Julie and Kelby at our house, followed by a reception and boat cruise on Boston harbor. Our kids are really wonderful people and we're lucky to have them near us.

Jim has retired from his computer programming management job and now is working on physics research at home. This is a fascination of his that he's happy to now have more time for. I spend a lot of time in my studio at home, making functional pottery (bowls, mugs, etc.), glass jewelry, and functional glass pieces. I have a monthly book group that's been ongoing now for 22 years(!) and activities at LexArt with other "potters". We like to eat out, especially with Julie and Kelby, who are known for trying out any and all new restaurants, although covid did put a damper on this activity.

Jim and I enjoy our Pearson 35 sailboat that we keep at Mattapoisett, a beautiful harbor where we also rent a cottage in the summer. We're members of the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton, which is conveniently within walking distance of our house. Our Maine Coon cat, Tucker, is very sweet and has learned a lot of dog-like commands like sit, stay, come, and shake, among others.

I have a few medical issues, like afib and some hearing loss, but so far nothing immediately terminal. Although I do realize this might be the case (the terminal part) eventually, I generally disapprove of death, as did Edna St. Vincent Millay, so I guess I'm in good company. Jim remains very healthy except for some arthritis. We hope to have a number of years ahead of us and we're enjoying life!

Best regards to my classmates!

Mary Lou Williams Eshelman