Aunt Margaret - The Visit

The first relative we visited when we drove down to CT on Friday morning (Oct 6) was Aunt Margaret. She is 95 years old. Her mind is sharp but she is suffering from the same problem I had surgery to fix 2 ½ years ago (my butt surgery). She was not diagnosed early enough in life to have it fixed. Now it causes her a great deal of pain and it has started limiting her mobility. I feel sorry for her because I know the pain she is going through and it is frustrating that all she can do is endure it. She lives with her son (my cousin) John and his wife. John is 75 and has been retired 1 year. He has a good-sized house with a big yard in a nice section of Fairfield a cat, a dog and a bird.


One of the first things I learned from them was that they didn’t remember me. (So much for my ego!) Aunt Margaret said her memory isn’t good for that time, John just doesn’t remember me. He said when he heard my voice when we arrived he thought it was my brother Louie. Although I was not remembered, the welcome we received was tremendous. Penny and I had eaten lunch before we arrived but they kept trying to feed us and they succeeded to a point. I told them that my most vivid memory of my visits to Margaret’s house as a kid was walking through her garden and seeing this ceramic cow’s head that she had. To my surprise John said they still had it and, sure enough, out in his backyard there it was. A story went with it, too. Margaret found it at the dump in 1945, thought it was pretty and took it home and has had it ever since.


It took no time at all to feel comfortable with them. They broke out cold cuts and we all sat around their table and talked. We took pictures of everyone and even got Aunt Margaret to smile (sort of).