Today would have been my Aunt Dot's (Dorothy) 99th birthday on earth. Since I think in Heaven you get to choose any age you want to be, I'll toast her here with 99. She was an amazing lady and a rock in my life.
She was, if I remember right, 15 years older than my mom, number 3 in the line of 4 kids. I remember...
...she crocheted afghans for people in nursing homes and I have about half a dozen she did for me and my parents.
...she lived all of her life in the same house she was born in.
...she never married, grandma told suitors not to bother with her because her girls/daughters would never leave her alone (my mother obviously left and married...)
BUT I found out years into adulthood that she had a boyfriend she'd had for decades...a married man who lived about an hour away. No one but her closest friend knew all of the details of that relationship.
...she loved to garden and kept the most beautiful garden that my grandmother had started. Springtime we'd share information on what we were planting and where. We loved the same plants and flowers and she kept my grandmother's iris garden going until she died and my mother sold her house.
...we made homemade caramels together in the fall and she made applesauce from scratch along with jellies, jams, pickled all-sorts-of-things, best custard pie in the world and many other things to numerous to list here but...
She was a GREAT cook and made Christmas cookies to DIE for!
...she was "old school" and got her hair done every Saturday morning, standing appointment. She did her nails every Sunday night.
...she traveled the world, so many places. Some with my family, some with other female gal pals.
...she worked for the same state agency for over 55 years...I have the clock from her 55th anniversary award ceremony on my desk. I know she worked beyond that, I can't remember how long.
...she loved Christmas and when I lived near home we'd help her decorate. She delighted in hosting Christmas Eve dinner and opening gifts at her house and then going to church and spending the night with us to have Christmas morning breakfast.
...at Thanksgiving we'd give her the turkey carcass to clean off for leftover turkey to be eaten. You have never seen bones picked so clean as when Aunt Dot got hold of that bird! To this day, the hubs will tell me to "do an Aunt Dot on that piece of meat" when he wants it stripped.
...she was the woman I told things to, poured my heart to and I knew she would never judge me. My rock.
...she was the one who bought me the pretty, girly things and painted my nails and braided my hair. My mother was not a girly girl and didn't care about lace and jewelry and frilly undergarments. Aunt Dot took care of those things.
...when she grew older and struggled with health issues, she never let anything weigh her down. Her arthritis was crippling at times but she still made the afghans and still rode her exercise bike every single day.
...sitting in her kitchen with the smells of baking or on the back porch listening to the birds could send your heart to the moon.
...she was one classy dresser...always dressed up and didn't own jeans until she was in her 70s.
...in her 70s she went to the car dealership and bought herself a snazzy new Monte Carlo to drive. I teased her about being a racy old broad...she loved it.
...she was so proud of me <3 And she let me know it.
...a few months before she died, we took our 2 pups to see her and spend some time one afternoon. I asked her how she felt. She said that if God took her tomorrow she'd be just fine because she had had such a great life. NOT...gee I wish I had married or had kids or had more money or... She knew she was blessed and said so.
...she had an easy laugh and it was a heartfelt one...when she laughed you knew her soul was happy.
...she cried easily...her heart would feel deeply and she would cry at movies, books she was reading, something she saw that pulled her heart. She had the biggest and kindest heart.
...there were times I think she quite simply saved me from myself <3
Happy Heavenly (and earthly) 99th birthday Aunt Dot. I know you're here, I know you still watch over me with love. I miss you so much, you were an amazing blessing in my life and so many others. Next year is the big one--100--we'll really celebrate then. Until then,
I love you!
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