Aunt Jane

Well, after much thought and deliberation in deciding who I would write about this time, I decided to chose my dear, sweet, wonderful Aunt Jane. I realize that by choosing another family member for this blog, I risk being accused of nepotism but it's my blog and I get to choose whomever I want! Right? Can I help it if I come from an exceptionally inspirational family??

My Aunt Jane is one such inspirational family member. I have grown up watching her fulfill many roles with grace and elegance: wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She has set such a remarkable example for all these roles that they are pretty darned impossible to match. Everyone, and I mean e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e, adores my Aunt Jane.

Blessed with good health, Aunt Jane has led a very active life. However, the one subject she does not care to talk about is her age. She says that she really doesn't feel all that old until people start talking about how old she is. OK, makes sense. This has nothing to do with vanity…..she simply gets sick and tired of all the talk about her age! So….. let's just say that she is somewhere in her nineties. But she has such a delightful disposition and the most contagious giggle you've ever heard and an energy and a spring to her step that makes you just want to hang out with her all the time.

Aunt Jane is actually my great aunt, my grandmother's sister. But she has been as much a part of our lives (mom and me) as if she had been a second mother. I remember when I was very young, begging her to tell me the story of her life as I found it abso-LUTE-ly fascinating. Orphaned at a very young age, she and her brother and sister were separated and each raised by a different aunt in Claremore, Oklahoma. However, being part of a very close-knit family, the siblings were able to remain close and maintained an incomparable devotion to one other throughout their lives. Incidentally, it was about this very close family that their cousin, Lynn Riggs ,wrote his book "Green Grow the Lilacs", the rights of which were later bought by Rodgers and Hammerstein and developed into the musical "Oklahoma!" The play's main character, Laurey, was named after my great-grandmother, Aunt Jane's mother. Kinda makes us all famous, no? Probably not.

These days, Aunt Jane spends most of her leisure time either playing bridge (real-life AND computer!), participating in church activities, and……BOWLING! She has been bowling in the same league for over 50 years and considers it a bad day when she scores below 140! And, I might add, she is pret-ty competitive! (She reeeeeeeally likes to win.)

OK, so now you have an idea of why we all adore Aunt Jane so much. I have no doubt that you would adore her too, but if you ever have the privilege of meeting her, I wouldn't mention her age!

Fondly,

Leslie