My Memorable Connection To The Mayo Brothers

Just a couple of days ago, Brent Ackerman shared his interesting connection to the Mayo Brothers.  It's really unique in my humble opinion that Brent has such an interesting tie to them. I also knew a woman who had a link to them directly, both in her heritage and had a surgery performed on her back in the early days of Charlie Mayo's practice here in Rochester.  She is no longer living, and I miss her dearly, but she shared so many special stories with me that I thought I would tell you about my experience, which makes me feel connected to the Mayo Brothers myself.

I had some special moments with an elderly woman whose aunt worked for Charlie at Mayowood when their children were really little.  She struggled with her vision and had a hard time reading but she loved to read books.  I would sit near her and read to her on a regular basis, and even though this was some time ago, I remember it as if it were yesterday.  I chose to read books to her, because she enjoyed them so, and one afternoon she mentioned to me that her favorite book was this autobiography of Charlie Mayo.

I grabbed my smartphone and googled it, and was able to find a copy online, it was used, but she and I agreed that this would be our next book to read together.  She told me that she had enjoyed reading it because she knew the people personally.  On the weekends, she would go visit her aunt and spend time herself at Mayowood.  She said that there were pictures in there and it was fun to read. I purchased it and a week or so later, the book came in the mail. She was right, there were pictures and stories, but what was even better was how she embellished them as I read this book to her.

We didn't read the entire book in one day.  It ended up being an hour here, an hour there... she had so many memories of her own to share along the way also. Some of her memories had to do with her life, some of them with the things in Rochester that were happening at the time, but this book came to life before my eyes, with this amazing woman and her wealth of wisdom that she shared with me as we turned page after page.

My time with her was very special and I looked forward to our daily chapter and discussion.  Out of respect to her I will not share anything specific, and she is gone now. I will tell you that I have never before experienced such an exciting and wonderful attachment to someone who had so much to share during this time.  She looked forward to our storytime just as I did.  Below, you'll see there were some really incredible photos of the Mayo family.  The book highlighted some of the amazing history of Rochester itself also, of which, this woman remembered vividly.

I still have this book, and often I will read it, because it reminds me of her, and it really is a fascinating read. I read this book all the way through with her, not long after we finished, she passed away.  I thank my lucky stars for the blessing I had reading this to her and having her share her memories with me.  She told me of a time when she was younger also, and how she was very sick, and Dr. Charlie performed surgery on her.  I will forever miss her, but this experience I had, I feel, gave me a personal connection, even just through this beautiful woman who let me read to her.

The book itself is quite intriguing.  Whoever thinks books have no worth in todays day and age would be wrong.  I strongly urge anyone who is reading this to read this book, because it's good, and really it highlights alot about our community and our heritage here in Rochester and the surrounding areas.  There were so many things I found out from reading that I didn't even know about Rochester.  There were even some photographs and stories about buildings and streets, and of course, the family history and family stories of the Mayo family also.  It was very well written and very informative!

You can read more about Brent Ackerman's connection and also find out information about the tours at Mayowood by clicking the link below.