Aunts, aunts and more aunts

I guess I was very lucky growing up as I had great-aunts still living.  Now it's nothing but back in the 60-70's there werent too many out there.  I didnt have any great-uncles still living though so missed out on knowing them.

Great-aunt Jess:  She was Grandma's sister on my mom's side.  She was a bigger lady with long white hair that she would wear up around her head like a crown.  She loved the Pirates and if you were in the neighborhood you knew they were playing cause you could here the game blaring from her TV or radio.  She was kind of hard of hearing.  She always had pink mints for me and my mom and little black licorice babies for my little brother when we came to visit.  My brother being my brother (a little weird ;)) would play with the flab on her arms.  She had lost a lot of weight.  She called them wings lol.  She was the only woman I ever met who had a cane, not your usual cane either.  It had belonged to her husband.  It was black and had a big silver eagle head on it. 

I do have a family story about Aunt Jess that was told to me by my grandma.  Here goes, hope it doesnt lose much in the translation...

Aunt Jess lived down the road from my grandparents in a little house by herself.  She had lost her husband before this story takes place.  Grandma invited Aunt Jess up to the house for dinner one evening.  They had a good meal and for desert Grandma made apple pie.  This was one of Aunt Jess's favorites but she was too full from dinner and asked if she could take a slice home with her.  Grandma put a slice on a plate but Aunt Jess said not to bother putting anything over it cause she just had a little ways to walk and then she would be home. 

A few minutes after she left Grandpa was looking out the window and pretty soon he saw this flashlight weaving back and forth on the road and all around Aunt Jess's house.  He told Grandma and she called down to see what was going on.  Aunt Jess was laughing so long and hard that in between gasps she told Grandma that when she got home the pie was not on the plate so she went out to see if she could find it with the flashlight.  She was laughing so hard because she couldnt find it so went back to the house and discovered it was stuck to the bottom of her shoe! 

*********

Great-Aunt Mary:  She was another one of Grandma's sisters (she had four sisters and a brother).  She was a character.  It took until the late 70's to get my grandma to wear slacks but Great-aunt Mary wore them back in the 20's.  She always took great pride in wearing red nail polish and red lipstick.  She also loved anything loud and gaudy.  She had those brass peacocks that you used to be able to buy on her living room walls and she also had one of those lights with the roman statue.  She had beads on her bedroom door.  She loved to make us angelfood cake.  We liked the cake all right but then she would put this awful green icing on it that was soooo hard that you could even chip it with your fork.  She liked to play this game with us where she would have a little piece of black construction paper on her fingernail and it would magically disappear and reappear on another finger.  We thought it was pretty fun.  We were young - what can I say.  She always got us gifts for Christmas.  Little necklaces and small things that didnt cost a lot cause she didnt get much from social security.

*******

Then there was Great-Aunt Grace:  I didnt like her.  Sorry but there it is.  We went to visit her once.  She glared at us kids like we were going to steal her blind or break everything in her house which we wouldnt do cause we would have gotten whooped when we got home if we did.  Anyway her house smelled and she had all the blinds closed and it was depressing in there.  Not long after that she died.  Maybe if we would have been able to get to know her I would have liked her I dont know.

Funny story my father tells of my Great-Aunts:  One year Grandma had Aunt Mary, Aunt Jess and the rest of the family over for like a family reunion sort of thing (this was when my parents were first married).  My dad likes to talk so the "girls" cornered him and started talking to him about anything and everything.  The only trouble was none of them could hear the other so he was trying to carry on a conversation with all of them about different things.  When he was listening to one the one on the other side would think he was ignoring her so she would tap him on the arm to get his attention.  Needless to say, he was glad when he had an excuse to get some more coffee! 

I hope you have enjoyed what I have typed so far on the female members of my family and arent too bored yet.  I still have my aunts, another grandma and mom to go.

Talk to ya later!

Denise