They call themselves the breakfast mafia. But that is getting ahead of the story.
About 12 years ago Patricia Bennett was living in Aquinnah. It gets quiet and lonely way up-Island in the deep off-season. Most nights from her house, Patricia could see only one other light on in the distance. It appeared to be waving to her.
“I said, I have to find out who lives in that house,” she recalled.
For most people, that would have been the end of it, a quick inquiry to satisfy the curiosity. But for Patricia the search for the other light on resulted in nearly 700 breakfasts, give or take a few rounds of coffee and eggs.
The other light belonged to Trudy Taylor, who lives year round on Stonewall Pond in Chilmark and is approximately 40 years Patricia Bennett’s senior. But the two hit it off right from the start and for the past 12 years they have had regular weekly Sunday breakfasts at restaurants around the Island. The tradition has continued without interruption; the only change is a recent switch from an 8:30 a.m. start time to 10:30 a.m. Trudy Taylor turns 92 on Nov. 7, and these days she needs more time to get ready in the morning.
“I feel like Trudy has been a friend, a mother and a mentor,” Patricia said during a Sunday breakfast a few weeks ago at State Road Restaurant. “She was there for me when both of my parents passed away and gave me great advice. It feels like I’ve known her my whole life. When my sister got married I went over and asked Trudy if I could raid her closet. She is the only 90-year-old woman whose closet you would want to raid.”
As matriarch of the Taylor family, Trudy is mother to James, Alex, Kate, Livingston and Hugh, along with countless grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“People will always say how amazing her children are and I will say, well they are amazing for a reason,” Patricia said. “They didn’t drop out of a tree.”
But the Taylor children are a story for a different time.
Over the years the Sunday morning breakfasts have evolved to include Patricia’s husband Richard Bennett. The two began dating about 10 years ago. At one of their early dates Patricia told Richard that she was busy every Sunday morning, but he was welcome to come along to breakfast if he wanted. A perfect test for a prospective suitor.
“We had this funny relationship the moment I met Richard,” Trudy said, recalling the first time they were introduced. “We connected. We love the same things.”
Richard passed the Trudy test, and he and Patricia were married in 2008 at Larsen’s Fish Market in Menemsha during working hours. Louie Larsen Sr. officiated while standing behind the quahaug shucking station. Trudy Taylor was the only guest. Afterward, the three of them honeymooned at the Dairy Queen.
“Richard’s parents are both in their mid 90s and they live in Rochester, and so his parents are the parents on his side of the family,” Patricia said. “As far as mine are concerned, Trudy is my parent.”
“She’s like my mother in law,” Richard said. “In a good way.”
Breakfasts always start with dessert, a tradition that goes back to Patricia’s childhood.
On that particular Sunday the meal began with an apple tart and a piece of chocolate cake shared by the group. Eggs and bacon would arrive later.
“I had a grandfather who was a train engineer who insisted on having dessert first in case he got called out,” Patricia said. “So we always have dessert first.”
These days most of the breakfasts take place at State Road Restaurant. But the Harbor View, Aquinnah Shop, Linda Jean’s, the Black Dog and occasionally the Outermost Inn are also favorites.
The Outermost serves breakfast only to inn guests, but Trudy has a connection there; her son Hugh is the owner.
Each week an email is sent out to a long list of recipients letting them know where the breakfast will be held. Patricia, Richard and Trudy are the core group, meeting every Sunday, but the breakfasts are not closed affairs.
“We find each other,” Trudy said. “There is an element of stickiness. If certain people are on the Island they just come. There is an informality to it. It’s not a big deal.”
But she also gives a nod to the core group of three. “Only we three know what it’s all about, and even we don’t know,” Trudy whispered.
On any given week, the numbers might swell to 10 or 15, as family members and friends join in. The three take turns with the bill, going alphabetically each week — Richard, Patricia and then Trudy.
And if on any given morning the entire Taylor clan shows up for breakfast the week it’s your turn to pay?
“Then you’re screwed,” said Richard with a laugh.
Trudy grew up in Newburyport, the daughter of a commercial fisherman.
“My people were all fishermen, real fishermen,” Trudy said. “We’re Vikings, on my father’s side.”
After the chocolate cake was cleared away, Trudy reminisced about coming to the Vineyard, “a long time ago.”
“We discovered the Vineyard, through the Massachusetts General Hospital,” she said. “My husband was the dean of the medical school there. The people who ran the Tashmoo Farm were from Mass General and they talked us into coming here.”
When the Taylors moved from Boston to Chapel Hill, N.C., they sent their animals to their Tashmoo Farm friends for safekeeping. Very good friends, evidently.
“Our chinchillas came down here. And our bees. They were going to run a farm, so why not,” she recalled.
The Taylors moved to the Vineyard full time in the 1970s. Isaac Taylor died in 1995.
On the Island, Trudy spends a lot of time gardening and her greenhouses are actual ecosystems, complete with tree frogs, lizards and birds.
“A woman came by and she had a notebook in her hand and was walking in my garden and I went out and said hi, and she said I’m looking at your garden, and I said oh, make yourself at home,” Trudy said.
The woman turned out to be a representative from the state and Trudy was later recognized as a master gardener by the state of Massachusetts.
“They gave me a medal down in the yacht club building in Edgartown,” Trudy said.
“I always call Trudy the ninth wonder of the world,” Patricia said. “She’s one of those people who is good at everything she does. She is a painter, gardener and avid reader. She went to music school, too.”
She is also a truth teller, which is why they began referring to themselves and their weekly outings as the “breakfast mafia.”
“Trudy will let the servers know if she doesn’t like something,” Patricia said. “One thing you can count on from Trudy is the truth.”
Patricia is an individual and family therapist. She also runs a company called Be More You. The company creates podcasts of interviews, and has about 20,000 subscribers. Trudy has been a featured guest a number of times.
“She talks about having children and being married,” Patricia said. “I have tried to share her whenever possible. Her wisdom is something you want to capture.”
Trudy had a blood pressure appointment and so there was no lingering after the breakfast dishes were cleared away. When you eat together every week there is no need for elaborate good-byes anyway. The pattern is set in stone and the next Sunday will be here soon enough.
As she gathered her things Trudy leaned over and whispered. “You could call this piece, something to look forward to.”
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