I’m not sure that anyone in my life has ever astounded me as consistently as my Aunt Millie did. As a very young girl I lived upstairs from my aunt’s ever expanding family. At that time I was aware of my aunt as a shadowy figure in the background, always tending a baby. In fairness to her I remember no parents at all from those days, I only remember the fun we kids were having. We moved away from that neighborhood, and then I got married and left my hometown, never to live in New England again. Time passed and the 70s and 80s happened, and I heard that my Aunt Millie had gone back to college and was now a teacher. Astounding. I heard about their family summers spent camping, or on ski trips, plus cross-country RV trips, and I found myself amazed again and again. By now I lived in MD and was happy to have my aunt and uncle as visitors as they traveled here and there. That’s when Aunt Millie really came out of the shadows to me. It was then that I really saw her, strong and opinionated (as the Nelsons tend to be), and it seemed as if I met her for the first time. I was lucky to have had a chance to spend time with her and Uncle Bob in the last 15 or so years. If circumstances had been different I might never have really gotten to know her at all. I’m glad I did. She died yesterday at 93, and she will be missed.
I read a blog post this morning and the blogger described her lifelong friend as having relocated from her failing body into much better accommodations. That just says it all…
A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens 