I would like to share some thoughts with the residents of Fair Haven about my grandmother, Mae Quinn. She died last Sunday at Seabrook Village in Tinton Falls, where she moved three years ago, after her husband of 54 years, Jim Quinn, died at Riverview Medical Center. Mae and Jim lived a very happy, very quiet life in a little house on Kemp Avenue for more than 50 years. They raised two children in this house and opened their doors daily to grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.
It is a beautiful, quiet neighborhood where all is right with the world. My grandmother truly loved the town of Fair Haven, as if it were her third child. There was very little need to ever venture out of the town. She made her daily stop at Acme, her weekly stop at Victoria’s Salon, and her occasional visit to Dr. John Movelle’s office. She never missed a Fair Haven ball game, football, baseball, soccer — it didn’t matter, you could always catch her in the stands yelling "Go blue, go red." She taught me how to ice skate on McCarter’s pond, treated me to ice cream at The Corner Café and let me try on lipstick at Margolies. Many, many dresses were made from patterns and fabric purchased at The Fair Haven Variety Store.
You couldn’t go to the firemen’s fair without spotting her dashing around looking for my grandfather, who was undoubtedly sneaking a hot dog or two over by the concession stand. The town limits may as well have been the ends of the earth to her, when she made the difficult decision to give up her home and move to Seabrook.
I walked past that little house on Kemp Avenue the day after she died, and closed my eyes for a moment. I could see my grandfather hitting golf balls on the lawn, hear the grandchildren splashing in the pool, smell the heat coming off the barbecue grill as they fired it up for one of many family gatherings. Most of all, I could see my grandmother tending to her garden, waving to her neighbors and simply loving every precious moment of it. It is a beautiful thing to spend your life in a small town — hold on tight and don’t let it go.
Stacie Rivera
Red Bank