In 1932 a cousin of Eliot's named Dick recalled the relationship between the poet and his mother as follows, on the occasion of his return to Harvard to give a lecture after 18 years in England:
“…a terrible bluestocking. I remember her all right. She was forty-four when he was born. Not many people know it, but he really left this country to get away from her. He loved her, I guess. He always wrote her and used to send her all his books. But he never really felt safe unless he had the Atlantic between them.”