metanoia's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aunt Clara My Aunt Clara was a gem. She was good and kind and perfect. She was my mother�s older sister, and where my mom was brash and naggy and snarky, Aunt Clara was calm and collected and never said a bad word about any other living person or thing. She was who I wanted to be, she was how I wanted to be. Looking back, I believe she was not that happy in her marriage. Her husband was bossy and judgmental and a mental bully. I guess that is how they got along�because she was not confrontational at all and he was constantly so. I remember one instance, shopping with my mom and Aunt Clara. My mother was looking for a shirt for my nephew and she looked at a particular package but it did not show whether the shirt was long sleeved or short sleeved, so she opened the package and took the shirt out to look at it. Well, you would have thought she shot the Pope because the owner of the shop comes running over and in broken English (I think he was some type of oriental) says, �You open, you buy!�, my mom says, �The hell I will! I just wanted to see if it had short sleeves and it has long sleeves � I don�t want that shirt!�, well they go back and forth like this for a long time, their voices raising and him trying to give the shirt to my mom and she avoiding it like it had � cooties or something� Dear Aunt Clara saw how mortified I was and took me outside. I will always appreciate that gesture. My mom came out a few minutes later ssoooooo pissed, �Why did you two leave me in there like that? You should have been supporting me! That guy is a jerk! I�m never going in that store again.�, etc. ad infinitum, yadda, yadda, yadda. She probably, if I know my mom, threw in a few racial slurs as well. But, Aunt Clara saved me. Thanks, Aunt Clara! I have a few of her scarves. She always wore a scarf, in the same manner as Jackie O. Just around the head, like a kerchief. She had sensitive ears, and it kept them warm and out of the wind. Sometimes I wear one of her scarves. It is always comforting - I feel close to her when I wear them. I remember another time having lunch with Aunt Clara, my mom and a friend of my mom�s. When the check came, my mom wanted to pay our share, but the friend said, �My treat� but my mom insisted, and the woman insisted and they started wadding up my mom�s money and throwing it back and forth across the table like some hot potato money volleyball. How embarrassing. I don�t remember what Aunt Clara did, but, it was a comfort she was there and you can bet your ass she wasn�t in the money throwing thing. To this day, I refuse to argue over paying a check in a restaurant. I will offer my share but if it is refused, I accept the gift and move on. I WILL NOT ARGUE ABOUT PAYING THE BILL. I�ll pay or you�ll pay � it doesn�t matter to me. I know it hearkens back to that day at lunch with my mom. K wants to take me to a bead show they are having in Hot!-lanta so we are going to the bead show tomorrow. Yay! The big city! We are going to Whole Foods and Horsetown and Cost Plus and any other where we want! Wheee! It is always great fun to go to the city, but we are always happy to be back home in our little rustic country cottage with 6 dogs, 3 horses and 3 cats and God knows how many possum�. Oh, and Target! I�m going to check out the Mossimo cashmere and see if it is any good. Certainly the price is right. Oh, and a yarn store too! We are going to be soooooo busy. 2:45 p.m. - 2004-08-27 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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