enormous family dinners were very common at first street and mary beth paid out fabulous salaries to hire the best cooks for her kitchen many reports indicate that the mayfair cousins loved going to first street , that they loved the long after-dinner discussions ( described by richard llewellyn ) , and that they were personally devoted to mary beth , who had an uncanny ability to remember birthdays , wedding anniversaries , and graduation dates , and to send appropriate and very welcome cash presents .