I suppose this should make me feel guilty, but it doesn't. I like my husband's aunt better than I like any of mine.
We went to see her yesterday. She lives about three hours northwest of us. Aunt Jeanette is eighty-four, but I don't think she knows it. She laughs at herself, which is a quality that I like.
Aunt Jeanette has been a widow for about eight years now, but it hasn't slowed her down at all. Well....she broke her hip, but she has a replacement and she is doing fine, working circles around me and most people my age, I think. She has already trimmed her bushes down and cleaned the leaves out of her flower beds. She was talking about how she needed a sofa that was of a size she could move and how she dusts under the bed. I clean under the bed and the sofa. Once or twice a year.
Aunt Jeanette is the relative of my husband's that is interested in the family history, and she shared some stories of which my husband was not aware. Like that his great-great-great-great-great grandfather (I think that's enough greats) was an aide-de-camp to George Washington. Like that she had sort of blipped out for a bit in the eighties. Like that her grandfather was such a skinflint that he could "squeeze a gnat and make a candle out of the tallow."
Jeanette is the oldest of six kids, and only three of them are left now. My husband said that when he was growing up, nobody liked her much, but I always have. When I first met her, she told me that she liked me, so it was a shame that I was going to hell because I wasn't Catholic and my husband was going to hell too because he married me. She didn't intend any malice toward me with that statement; that's just the way she is.
I don't know if Aunt Jeanette still thinks that I am going to hell, but she is VERY faithful with remembering my husband's and my birthdays and our anniversary. Often hers is the only anniversary card we get. She remembers to ask about the kids, and she tells us stories so that just maybe my husband can understand his family a little better. At any rate, her stories make for good listening. She was telling us yesterday how her mother had always wanted to go to high school and the school system had even lobbied for her to go, offering to send a buggy for her and find her quarters in town for the week in exchange for her watching some kids. Her father said no, though, and that was something about which Grandma always felt a loss. I added this to my own memories of Grandma. I only knew her five years, but one of the first things she did when she met me was to pull me down to her level and tell me to be nice to my husband or I would answer to her. I always respected that about her. When my son was a baby, she and Grandpa drove out to our house to see him. My husband pulled Grandma aside and commented to her that he thought the state had taken Grandpa's license. Her reply was that they had, but he insisted on driving, so she was going with him. It is not hard to see where Aunt Jeanette got her spunk.
Sometimes, I think this world goes too fast for us to appreciate our older relatives, and it is too bad. They have a lot to give, and all it takes to appreciate their gift is a little investment of time.
We went to see her yesterday. She lives about three hours northwest of us. Aunt Jeanette is eighty-four, but I don't think she knows it. She laughs at herself, which is a quality that I like.
Aunt Jeanette has been a widow for about eight years now, but it hasn't slowed her down at all. Well....she broke her hip, but she has a replacement and she is doing fine, working circles around me and most people my age, I think. She has already trimmed her bushes down and cleaned the leaves out of her flower beds. She was talking about how she needed a sofa that was of a size she could move and how she dusts under the bed. I clean under the bed and the sofa. Once or twice a year.
Aunt Jeanette is the relative of my husband's that is interested in the family history, and she shared some stories of which my husband was not aware. Like that his great-great-great-great-great grandfather (I think that's enough greats) was an aide-de-camp to George Washington. Like that she had sort of blipped out for a bit in the eighties. Like that her grandfather was such a skinflint that he could "squeeze a gnat and make a candle out of the tallow."
Jeanette is the oldest of six kids, and only three of them are left now. My husband said that when he was growing up, nobody liked her much, but I always have. When I first met her, she told me that she liked me, so it was a shame that I was going to hell because I wasn't Catholic and my husband was going to hell too because he married me. She didn't intend any malice toward me with that statement; that's just the way she is.
I don't know if Aunt Jeanette still thinks that I am going to hell, but she is VERY faithful with remembering my husband's and my birthdays and our anniversary. Often hers is the only anniversary card we get. She remembers to ask about the kids, and she tells us stories so that just maybe my husband can understand his family a little better. At any rate, her stories make for good listening. She was telling us yesterday how her mother had always wanted to go to high school and the school system had even lobbied for her to go, offering to send a buggy for her and find her quarters in town for the week in exchange for her watching some kids. Her father said no, though, and that was something about which Grandma always felt a loss. I added this to my own memories of Grandma. I only knew her five years, but one of the first things she did when she met me was to pull me down to her level and tell me to be nice to my husband or I would answer to her. I always respected that about her. When my son was a baby, she and Grandpa drove out to our house to see him. My husband pulled Grandma aside and commented to her that he thought the state had taken Grandpa's license. Her reply was that they had, but he insisted on driving, so she was going with him. It is not hard to see where Aunt Jeanette got her spunk.
Sometimes, I think this world goes too fast for us to appreciate our older relatives, and it is too bad. They have a lot to give, and all it takes to appreciate their gift is a little investment of time.
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