Bea, Freddy, Charles and Jane
My grandma was the oldest of four. She was my nice grandma and I miss her still. She was smarter than she ever got to fully use, an unusually skilled knitter, kind, observant and optimistic. She told my Mom that she worried I was so generous I would give my whole self away. Most of the time I look like the other side of my family, but I see her sometimes when I am putting on lipstick.
My (great) Uncle Freddy is a charmer. He flirts incessantly. I would like to know him better, but his rake persona is so ingrained that I can't turn the conversation to anything more interesting. The best thing he ever did was marry my Aunt Betty.
The scandal of this weekend is that at age 85, my Uncle Charles has left his third wife. Got on his motorcycle after a fight and stormed off. No one has heard from him for a couple weeks, and they don't expect to until he turns up with his next woman. Wouldn't you hope that there is an age where you can stop worrying about your husband taking off for another woman? Surely, at some age, he doesn't want the freedom and grit of seedy motels in Florida? Well, ladies, perhaps you can be secure sometime after he turns eighty-five. But Charles has done this his whole life, and he's not done yet.*
My grandmother's sister, Aunt Naney, was married to Jack until my grandma and grandpa had them over for family dinner. By all accounts, Jack took one look at my grandfather's sister, and that was the end of Naney and Jack's marriage. Jack and my grandpa's sister were married until he died in her arms decades later. My Mom always called him Uncle Uncle Jack.
Uncle Uncle Jack left Aunt Jane with a little daughter and not much else. During WWII my grandma was raising my Mom, so she and Aunt Naney, with their two little girls, got an apartment together in downtown Bloomington. I have always thought those were good years for them; I know they had enough money left over to go get an ice cream sundae a couple times a week. I don't believe in an afterlife, but I would love to think they are together now, sharing a sundae and shaking their heads over Charles.
*I changed this one.
My (great) Uncle Freddy is a charmer. He flirts incessantly. I would like to know him better, but his rake persona is so ingrained that I can't turn the conversation to anything more interesting. The best thing he ever did was marry my Aunt Betty.
The scandal of this weekend is that at age 85, my Uncle Charles has left his third wife. Got on his motorcycle after a fight and stormed off. No one has heard from him for a couple weeks, and they don't expect to until he turns up with his next woman. Wouldn't you hope that there is an age where you can stop worrying about your husband taking off for another woman? Surely, at some age, he doesn't want the freedom and grit of seedy motels in Florida? Well, ladies, perhaps you can be secure sometime after he turns eighty-five. But Charles has done this his whole life, and he's not done yet.*
My grandmother's sister, Aunt Naney, was married to Jack until my grandma and grandpa had them over for family dinner. By all accounts, Jack took one look at my grandfather's sister, and that was the end of Naney and Jack's marriage. Jack and my grandpa's sister were married until he died in her arms decades later. My Mom always called him Uncle Uncle Jack.
Uncle Uncle Jack left Aunt Jane with a little daughter and not much else. During WWII my grandma was raising my Mom, so she and Aunt Naney, with their two little girls, got an apartment together in downtown Bloomington. I have always thought those were good years for them; I know they had enough money left over to go get an ice cream sundae a couple times a week. I don't believe in an afterlife, but I would love to think they are together now, sharing a sundae and shaking their heads over Charles.
*I changed this one.
Labels: Family
posted by Megan at 10:51 AM
2 Comments:
That took a lot of concentration to understand, but it was worth the trouble. "Uncle Uncle Jack" - ha ha.
Sorry. I tried to be clear. Jack left my grandma's sister for my grandpa's sister. Must have been awkward for a while...
Post a Comment
<< Home