Baby Boomer Sagas's Blog
Another Excerpt from: “Aunt Jean and Uncle George”, Chapter IV | May 29, 2010
Aunt Jean, circa 1955
10/28/2011 – In this section I introduce my Aunt Jean to the reader in Chapter IV. It is my earliest recollection of my aunt and takes place during the summer of 1955.
I spent more time with my aunt Jean and uncle George while growing up than I spent with my own parents. At least it seems that way. They were ever present from my infant years to my teenage and young adult years, and even into half of my married years. You can’t make this stuff up, you’ll see; just read on for a wonderful tale of family devotion and love.
When I was about four, at the house on Cook Street, Caroline, my mom, was chasing me around the kitchen table trying to coax me with sweet words, but those soon led to some not-so-sweet words. She was holding a teaspoon in one hand and a bottle of cod liver oil in the other and was unsuccessfully trying to get me to ingest this horrible elixir. Mom took to giving this to my brother and me every day. It was her version of our once-a-day vitamin. I don’t know if I ever ran from her when she tried to give this to me before, but I can actually remember doing so this time. This chase had gone on for about ten minutes when we both came to an abrupt halt when we heard a knock on the back door. Aunt Jean stepped in to rescue me. But her presence was only a short distraction. Mom and I quickly resumed our game of cat and mouse. At first, my aunt stood off in a corner and just observed this scene, but five minutes into her observance, she started laughing, which she did often. Then she turned to my mom and said very seriously, “Caroline, why don’t you take a teaspoon of that stuff and see for yourself how it tastes?” My mom just looked at her with resignation because she knew very well how that stuff tasted. My sweet Aunt Jean had done it again; she had worked her magic. And that was it, the end of the cod liver oil; in that form, anyway. Never again did my mother try to give us that putrid-tasting fluid. She discovered the candy-coated pill form, and that is what we took for many years after. And this is my first recollection of Jean.
Even though she had a troubled childhood or maybe because of that, she was a master at defusing tense moments with people whether she was directly involved in a situation or just an observer. She could make people change their course of action with just a tiny comment. She was able to gently nudge people into directions they never knew they were headed. She accomplished this by using a combination of humor, kindness, and patience, and it worked nearly all the time. It required very little effort on her part; it was her way. That is one of the many reasons why everyone who knew my aunt loved her.
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