In this inaugural podcast of Our Mothers Ourselves, Katie Hafner talks with Ellen Fitzpatrick, a professor of 20th century U.S. history, about her mother, Mary.

Mrs. Fitzpatrick was for many years a favorite math teacher at Amherst Regional High School. She majored in math at U Mass in the 1940s, and went on to raise six kids while working full-time. Widowed suddenly in 1975 at age 52, Mary Fitzpatrick carried on. 

Hers wasn't a flashy life, but it was a meaningful one, leaving a deep impression on thousands of people at a pivotal time in their lives.  And it makes you think: It really does matter how you live your life every day.