Sharyn remembers being brought up in a warm and loving family environment. Living with her mom and dad, grandparents, aunt and uncle, and her 17-year old uncle was quite a special time in her life. She loved hearing family stories, especially how her grandparents met. Growing up, she and her cousins all knew the story of Papa seeing Mayma for the first time. Her Papa would say, “Mamala was so beautiful in her blue skirt and a white blouse.”
Sharyn loved to sing and dance along with the music coming from the record player. She loved to pretend she was on stage and her family always enjoyed watching her performances! She also had fun reading to her dolls and acting like she was the teacher. Her dream of becoming a teacher eventually came true.
A few years after her college graduation Sharyn was married. As her family grew with three children they began creating their own rich traditions. Family traditions have always been and still are extremely important to Sharyn.
Sharyn and Fred now have four terrific granddaughters who love hearing Sharyn’s stories especially the one about how she met “Grandpa.” She is passionate about making sure her family stories are passed down to her children, grandchildren, and future generations.
During the beginning of her teaching career Sharyn received her Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Bridgeport. While teaching first grade and then kindergarten she wrote, directed and created plays for her classes revolving around the varied traditions of the students’ families. She received many grants which enabled her to produce these plays.
In 1996 she became a finalist for the Stamford Teacher of the Year award and was quoted in an article in Reader’s Digest entitled, “America’s Top Teachers Speak Out.” Her acting talents emerged when she was chosen to host a children’s show on a local cable network titled, “Come Play with Us.” After retiring from teaching, Sharyn was coached as a storyteller by master storyteller J.G. Pinkerton. She also began recording her stories and stories of other family members. She has had her stories, “Memories of the Past,” published in a variety of publications such as the Stamford Advocate, the Jewish Voice and the Agudath Sholom weekly bulletin.
In 2001, Helen Neitlich, Sharyn’s mother and her best friend passed away. Although Sharyn’s mom is no longer with the family, her spirit lives on within her stories and will be cherished by her family forever. Sharyn is so thankful she took the time to record her mother’s life before it was too late.
In 2008 Sharyn’s 91-year old father decided he wanted to write his life story. Sharyn was thrilled and they began the special journey of looking back in time. Working on her father’s story was exciting especially finding out about the many things he did for our country during WW II. Sharyn learned quite a bit about her father’s very difficult past which helped her understand the struggles he had to face later on in life.
Sharyn’s passion for preserving the past was reinforced while working on her father’s story. She thought that once the older generation was gone, their stories would be gone too. She didn’t want their memories to die with them. From that enlightening experience, Baery Special Memories was born.
Sharyn Baer is a member of the Association of Personal Historians, Entreprenurial Woman’s Network, and founder of Baery Special Memories.
To find out more about Baery Special Memories’ services and products please click here.