Sunday, January 12, 2020

Nostalgia

 Yesterday I drove my sisters down to a remote area of Virginia to visit my aunt. My uncle, on the right, had passed away in March. He was my dad's only remaining sibling. Just before Christmas my aunt, in the middle, who is recovering from cancer surgery, called to say my cousin, her youngest, had passed away suddenly. It was her third child to lose in recent years and he was her caretaker. At the end of our visit it was hard to leave her alone in her little home in a very isolated area on the Potomac River but she won't pack up and go much to her one remaining son's dismay. She's frail but feisty and has no intention of living anyway but the way she wants. You have to admire that but you still worry. I'm worried.



 I also learned yesterday that another aunt had passed away. That's my grandmother, my mother's mother, in the middle and my very chic Aunt Kitty in the fox stole. She lived on her own until the age of 99 and passed away peacefully at home. We should all be so lucky.


I'm feeling unsettled by all this loss so how about I end this with a cute little munchkin and her ironing board? That's me. I have no recollection at all of any of this but it looks like I was having a darn good time. Little did I know then that I would grow up to be crap at ironing. I'm not a fan.

13 comments:

  1. I'm so very sorry for all of your loss. It's so hard. And I know there are no words to make it better. I can imagine how you worry about your Aunt. I'm a professional worrier, just ask anyone who knows me. I'll be praying for all of you my friend.
    Blessings,
    Betsy
    Oh, and we have to be close to the same age as I had an ironing board that I think looked just like yours if I remember correctly. I actually still like to iron. :-)

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  2. Sorry about all your losses. Sucks. I remember after my uncle and dad had died my grandfather saying it wasn’t right to have lost his sons but still live. Must have been awful. Live each day. Best way to be. I remember getting ironing board for Christmas too. My iron plugged in. Can you imagine. Would have been early 60s. In fact it still lives. My daughter has them both and uses in displays when she sells her bags at craft sales. Take care. Cheryl aka seajaes

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  3. So sorry for your lisses. Seems to be happening all the time (one if the benefits of aging...). Those pictures are fabulous!!

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  4. How nice to have these pictures to help you remember all of these people. Sweet memories of family. I love how ironing was a toy to get at Christmas! I do not like to iron and avoid it whenever possible. What a lovely little dress you are wearing! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. So sorry to hear about the losses in your family. I cannot imagine surviving the death of even one child and your aunt has had three children pass away. She must be a strong woman so feisty is probably a good description of her. The photos are just wonderful.

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  6. Those photos really are sweet - having strong people in our lives is truly an inspiration yet sometimes a little worrying. My dear Grandmother lived to be 104 and took her first plane trip at the age of 99 - it's good for me to harken back to her strength of character when I'm feeling a little "weak". Good for you for paying tribute to the past generations of your family!

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  7. Oh Deb. You have had so much loss. Im so sorry . Grief is odd. Somedays I feel like my father is still alive. I was not seeing him daily or anything near that, but he is not. Those old photos become more and more precious as we examine them. I have a few photos from my childhood and I don't recall anything about them!

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  8. Wonderful pictures. They really knew how to dress back then!
    I am sorry for the losses though. We just lost a friend too. This time of year can be bad for that sort of thing, for some reason.

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  9. I know that from now on, all of our older generation relatives are a rare treasure. I'm so sorry for another occasion for grief. I had an ironing board just like that-I loved that thing and dragged it out every time my Mom did her ironing--I still love the smell of heated fabric!

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  10. It is a mild winter here too. Not like yours but temp is above freezing. Although usually January-February is -5-10C or even lower. Liana

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  11. Losses seem to come one after another this time of year. My sympathy to you. Look at that beautiful tree covered in tinsel! You were sure a cutie!

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  12. I'm so sorry for all your losses. That's a lot to deal with. I hope your aunt will be okay on her own. It can be so frustrating and worrisome when the elderly refuse to leave their home... And I know I will throw fits and refuse to leave mine too. :) Hugs to you!
    And, I think I had that same ironing board. They must have had some bad mojo attached to them because I can't iron properly to save my life! :)

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