I spent some time with my mom, grandmother, a couple of aunts and a couple of cousins a few weeks ago in Boston. We had such a good time and it was a great bonding time together.
Sitting in the waiting room at the hospital while waiting for my grandmother's surgery to begin I was watching my Auntie Marge. What a year she has had. She has fought cancer and won, lost her son to a senseless death, battled financial woes and there she sits. Strong. Filled with life.
I was remembering back to days when I was a kid and I would go and stay with her for a few weeks in the summer. She was the stern one. The disciplinarian. The one you were threatened with when you were misbehaving. She couldn't be used against me though. I wasn't afraid of her. I loved her. Still do. I respected her. Still do. I never acted out in such a ways as to have to be threatened so I guess that helped.
Anyways the first summer that I stayed down "alone" meaning without my grandmother there, I was 11 or 12. I remember making beds and hanging laundry on the line. I was about the only kid who enjoyed doing that. My cousins would complain when asked to do their share but for me it made me feel grown up.
The weekend before I came home I went with Auntie Marge to Enfield Square to go school shopping for Pudgie and Denise. I was mesmerized by the mall. It wasn't huge but to me it was. Pudgie and Denise were trying on clothes and I was just poking around the racks. Dreaming, wishing I could buy some of the clothes. Thinking to myself as soon as I could get a job I was going to and I was gonna buy myself lots of nice clothes.
Auntie Marge came over to me and asked if I liked any of the shirts on that rack.
"Oh yes, I like them all but the blue sweater is my favorite"
It had a huge cowl neck, just the "in" thing at the time. (I wonder if cowl necks will ever come back in style?)She picked up the sweater off the rack and went to the next rack and sorted through the clothes and finally came out with a pair of jeans. She handed them to me and said I probabaly should try them on to make sure they fit before we buy them.
I just stood there. Tears in the back of my eyes. I felt guilty for being so obviously taken with the sweater that Auntie Marge felt like she had to buy it for me. She asked me what was wrong. I wanted that sweater in the worst way but I didn't want her to feel like she had to buy it for me. I told her I liked the sweater but that she didn't have to buy it for me. She said she didn't "have" to do anything. She "wanted" to. "Besides, you earned it. You helped me alot this summer"
So I tried it on and walked out of JCPenny with the sweater and a pair of jeans. Feeling all rich and important.
Auntie Marge seemed so old and wise. I feel so immature and not-so-wise. Hard to believe she was only 31 or 32 that summer. 9-10 years younger than I am now.
Merciless wail of time....
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