Part I of the article details Shirley's work at The White House and some amusing stories and her opinions on the first families and visiting guests.

(Missing text) in bed. But she'd go out on public gatherings where she's have to officiate and then come home and
have to go to bed and be given pain pills. But she was a delightful lady."

As to President Ford, "The first time I met him was in the usher's office. I felt sorry for him. He was such a sweet,
unassuming man. I thought, don't let them hurt him. But they did." She felt he was not quite ready or equipped for
the political frays and circling barricudas.

All First Families deserve our respect, Shirley says, but the Carters fell short in some areas.

"I personally felt the Carters kind of negated the atmosphere and tone of the Presidency. Mrs. Carter in her bare feet
and jeans, and President Carter having his fireside chats in his cardigan with elbow patches, were out of place. He
was trying to be a humble man. He didn't want to have 'Hail to the Chef' played. Well, I mean, that's part of the
presidency in my book."
Shirley liked President Carter as a person. "He was a well-educated, brilliant and brainy man. I just think he was
probably misguided in his way of handling things."

It's thumbs down on Mrs. Carter, however, and here's why.

"This is the experience that turned me off. I was on the second floor one morning to check everything on that level
and Mrs. Carter was coming out of the elevator. I waved to her and said 'Good morning, Mrs. Carter.' She didn't
even respond. That was it. I said to myself she'll never get another chance to snub me." And she didn't.
but that wasn't all. At Christmas time it's customary for the First Family to remember the help. Usually a
reproduction of one of the portraits in the White House (Shirley's got a drawer full).

"When it came to Christmas with the Carters Mrs. Carter decided she would only give to the maids who had personal
contact with them. She forgot the housemen, the laundry girls, my secretary, myself, not that I cared, but I look at it
this way: If you can't give to all, don't give to any."

As to White House children, Shirley was especially fond of Julie Eisenhower who still keeps in touch. Tricia was
more distant and hard to get to know, as was Amy Carter.

Amy went to public school via chauffeured limo each day, presenting a comically incongruous picture that still makes
Shirley chuckle.

"I'd arrive at my office around eight and there would be this little girl with glasses and long blonde hair clutching
her books. She'd trot off to her limo with this big red-haired secret service man trotting right along behind her. It
was funny."

Next to the diplomats' kids, the White House kids were angels.

"The Christmas diplomatic children's party was one big disaster. They are a bunch of the brattiest spoiled kids I've
ever seen! Afterward the housemen had to get down on their knees to clean up spilled punch and fruitcake ground
into the carpets." With their diplomatic parents enjoying immunity from the behavior and laws that govern the rest of
us, Shirley thinks the kids may have picked up an attitude.

Part II Heinz Bender

Shirley married Heinz Bender, the White House Pastry Chef, a year after she became executive housekeeper, but it
didn't mean better White House treats for her. Pastry chefs don't cater for staff.

How about their wedding cake? "He made a masterpiece for Tricia's wedding but he didn't even make a cupcake for
ours," Shirley laughs.

Heinz and Shirley retired from the White House in 1979 to a waterfront condo on Longboat, but Heinz' recent death has been difficult. She's warmed, nonetheless, by the memories of a young Heinz who was an apprentice pastry chef in Germany and made his own way so successfully in a foreign country.

"He didn't even know English. But he taught himself and ended his final days in the White House. He loved to talk and reminisce about it. It really meant more to him than me," Shirley says.

Although she has scads of pictures and slides of Heinz' pastry creations, she has no recipes to share because "Heinz measured everything not in cups but in pounds."

Shirley impishly volunteered, however, to share the Carters' favorite (rest of article is missing)