Aunts - Minnesota

I realized that I didn’t finish posting all that I wanted to write about during Mother’s Day week. I wrote about Mothers, and Grandmothers, and Mother in Laws. I also wanted to write about Aunts, who are very often like Mothers, and need to be honored during Mother’s Day also. So, here is my post on “Aunts”. Today I will write about my Aunts in Duluth, who adopted me as a neice through marriage.

In my family and my husband’s family I have had a wonderful experience with Aunts.
When it came to my growing up years, my husband’s growing up years, and my children’s, the aunts in our family were like Mothers to us.

Bob had 6 aunts (he called them Aunties). Of the 6, two of them lived in the same apartment building and two lived a block away. Now, these four aunts were, indeed like Mothers to Bob. Auntie Mae never married, and she considered Bob as if he were her own. Auntie Helen married late in life and had no children, so she considered Bob the same. Auntie Rosie did have a son and two grandchildren, but I know she looked at Bob as one of her own also. He was so blessed to have the three of them. Auntie Mae took care of him when his Mother had to go to work when he was small, she really helped to raise him. Auntie Rosie worked in a pie factory, and would bring him home lots of the small pies that they baked. He spent time upstairs with her a lot. Auntie Lizzie made breakfast for him and his Mother after church every Sunday. When Auntie Lizzie was gone, Auntie Helen made the breakfast.

Auntie Mae and Auntie Helen took Bob to the movie theater every Saturday. There were many to choose from back in those days, the Lycem, Lyric, Granada and the Norshor. They watched westerns (Randolph Scott), and a lot of monster movies. In those days you could take in food to the theatre and they would take along hamburgers, hotdogs, pop and candy! They always made sure there was enough food for their boy Bobby. Interesting side comment here: this is where Auntie Helen met her future husband.

When I first came to Duluth, I was anxious to meet his “aunties”, because he always talked a lot about them, and missed them as much as he missed his Mother when he was away in the army. The first day I was there to visit, (before we were married), his Mother said that all the aunties would be over in the afternoon to visit. I felt like I was “passing inspection”, especially from Auntie Helen, who was the real talkative aunt. She asked me a million questions, really grilled me. Auntie Lizzie had passed away years before, so I didn’t meet her. I also met Aunt Mary, who lived across town, and rarely went out of the house. She was very meek and mild. I never got to know her, but know she was a sweet woman. He had another Aunt, who lived in Maryland, and when we would go to my home in PA, we went to visit her when we could. I am happy to say that all of them approved of me, even though I wasn’t Italian. They soon made it clear to me that they accepted me and loved me as a niece. And, I accepted them and loved them as my aunties.

When our children came, Auntie Mae, loved taking care of babies. She should have been married and had a big family, because she was the best mother! She was a second Mother to our children. We were so blessed to have her. She rocked them, patiently, and would patiently read the same book over and over, just to please them, and never lose patience. I never knew anyone with the patience that she had.

Auntie Mae worked during the time that I first went to work, so Auntie Helen took care of our first born daughter when she was just a baby. Auntie Mae was there in the evenings, since she just lived upstairs. After we moved to Woodland, she was offended if we hired a sitter to go out, she wanted us to bring her up to baby sit. So, there was a bed in the spare room for when she stayed over.

Our first two children remember Auntie Helen and Auntie Mae well, and Dawn remembers Auntie Rosie. Unfortunately, the morning that our second child was born, (Rob), Auntie Rosie lost her battle to cancer. We think it was the same hour. And, the summer that Scott, our third, was 9 months old, Auntie Mae had a stroke and had to be moved to a nursing home. So, Scott only remembers Aunt Helen a little, but to our first two, they were second Mother’s.

Bob and I are so thankful that we had these wonderful Aunts in ours and our children’s lives. They truly enriched our lives.

Next post I will write about my Aunts in Pennsylvania.