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Having raised 13 children who presently range in age from
19 to 41, Betty Paulin escapes to the outside world
two or three days a week. She is very active in the Ladies
Sodality of Holy Ghost Parish, and, luckily for us, she has
been cleaning, wiping, and straightening Maple Street Book
Shop and Maple Street Children’s Book Shop since the
late ’60s.
The days she comes and works her magic
on the dust and dirt are the days when morale is at its highest
around here.
Though "peace" and "relaxation"
could never be considered usual perks of working here at the
book shops, with 13 families who love to visit Mom’s
house, Betty says she is likely to find more peace here
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Betty Paulin |
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than at home. We try to leave her alone, but sometimes we can’t
help stopping her to catch up on the latest news on the home front.
And there is always news.
Betty is married to Mr. Ernest Paulin, whose
band, Doc Paulin’s Dixieland Jazz Band, consists of six of
Betty’s musically talented kids.
Since Betty is an avid reader, many days she
leaves part of her paycheck here in exchange for books. She loves
religious/philosophical books, psychology books, and reading
cookbooks all the way through, as well as using them.
She is an exceptional cook who has plans to write
her own cookbook. Her German chocolate cake is a book shop favorite,
as well as the bourbon cakes she bestows on us at Christmas, the
leftovers of which we sort of politely fight over.
So, when you see the indoor-outdoor look at Maple
Street Book Shops (that’s when the number of leaves inside
equals or exceeds the number of leaves outside), you’ll know
that Betty Paulin will soon be in to put everything back in order
and through her own "relaxation techniques," to restore
cleanliness and sparkle to the shops.
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