We recently had the opportunity to meet one of Mattapoisett’s senior citizens who, at the age of 94, is still seeking ways to connect to other people, Hope Bradley Finley. Her soft-spoken and gentle demeanor belies an inner strength and grit. As a working mother of four children, she pushed through exhaustion and the demands of a busy family to help support her loved ones. Finley typifies what it means to sacrifice wants and needs for the good of the family unit and faith that a higher power would help to sustain them all.
Now, as she faces the challenges of aging and the loss of hearing and eyesight, she has time to contemplate a life that has been filled with love, joy and yes, loss. Finley chalks up her natural optimism to her father and to her strong belief that everything is in God’s hands.
Beyond all of that, Finley also possesses the ability to express herself in poetic stylings that have touched those who’ve had the privilege of reading her essays and poems, some of which will now be printed in this publication or, as Finley frames it, “My voice will be heard at last.”
Finley came to our attention through the Friendly Visitor Program provided to seniors whose lack of mobility has confined them to home. The program partners seniors with a Council on Aging volunteer whose company brings social engagement and in Finley’s case, champions who promote the senior’s talent.
Her story begins in New Bedford where she was born, raised and taught the importance of a religious life in the Baptist Church. She enjoyed singing hymns both in church and at home, a passion she enjoyed until a medical issue robbed her ability to sing in more recent years.
Finley worked for four decades as the evening hostess at the former Cathay Temple. Of those years, she recalls strong friendships that developed not only with other employees of the iconic restaurant but also with patrons whose weekends often included listening to live music and meeting up with friends, including her.
“It was my family,” Finley demurred of those relationships that began with her friendly hello. “I served four generations of the same families.” The strong relationships she shared with so many have dwindled over the years, as many friends have passed away, and their descendants never knew Finley or the Cathay Temple. But she recalls vacations on Cuttyhunk, an airplane trip to New York City and many boat rides, “on their yachts!” Thus, even though she was working, standing hours and years on her feet serving customers in a manner few would experience today, they were good years.
Though Finley’s inspired writings had stopped when she was about 16 to work to help support her parents and sibling, they began once again decades later after she remarried. After becoming a widow for the second time, she remarried the widower Rev. Donald Finley, a close family friend and the longtime Mattapoisett Congregational Church minister and poet. She said it was his poetry that got her thinking again about writing the words that came to her often at night.
“I’d wake up, and I’d have to get up and write it down,” she told us, explaining that she never wrote except when the words came to her rather than her seeking them out.
Today Finley enjoys the hubbub of a home filled with multigenerational family members (including a great-grandbaby of one year old) and a quiet cup of tea while chatting with Lynne Markinac, COA volunteer.
As she graciously shared her story with us, we found the following poem a good way to introduce you to Finley’s writing, which will recur in The Wanderer under the subtitle “The Poetry Corner.”
Looking Back, by Hope Bradley Finley:
As I look back through all the years,
I remember the laughter and the tears,
The joys and also the fears,
These and so much more,
Now that I am 94.
I appreciate the precious gift of my four children,
My grandchildren and great-grandchildren,
I marvel at their talents and their love,
That makes my spirits soar,
Now that I am 94.
I’ve had the best and the worst,
I’ve been sometimes the last and sometimes the first,
I’ve known triumph and disappointments,
I’ve known love and I have known loss,
And opened every door,
Now that I am 94.
My faith in God has taught me many things,
He has been beside me every step of the way,
And sustained me in every experience good and bad,
What I feel is gratitude for His love,
And the love of family and friends and more,
Now that I am 94.