Tuesday, July 26, 2022
“Honey”. “Honey”, could have been Uncle Sheldon or David or any of the rest of the family. It could also be a perfect stranger. To Aunt Doris, almost everybody was “honey”. If we were all visiting it could get pretty confusing. If she called, “Honey”, everybody turned around. The thing is, she really meant it. Aunt Doris was warm, loving and caring. She was understanding and supportive. Everywhere she went, she made friends. She made everybody feel that they were special.
We all know, Aunt Doris had many medical problems. She had surgery on almost every finger, as well as other surgeries. She had broken bones, diabetes and even cancer. But she pulled through.
There are many stories I could tell about my relationship with Aunt Doris, but I will just tell a few. One of my earliest memories of Aunt Doris must have been when we first met. My parents and I (Leslie wasn’t even born yet) met Aunt Doris and Uncle Sheldon in Washington D.C. Everybody was trying to get me to go to sleep but Aunt Doris introduced me to the concept of “beauty sleep”.
Aunt Doris was like another mother to me. She was affectionate and was always happy to get some “sugar” from all of us. One year, she took me blueberry picking. I had never been berry picking before. It was a lot of fun and when we checked out, the farm had the recipe for “Jordan Marsh” blueberry muffins. The recipe turned out amazing and tasted like the real thing. I use that recipe to this day and think of her when I do.
Another story occurred when I was in middle school. I was on a class trip to Brookline, Massachusetts. On the train ride up there, I got sick and ended up with strep throat. I called Aunt Doris and Uncle Sheldon and they picked me up and took me home with them. Aunt Doris called me Typhoid Mary but took care of me until I was able to go home.
Whenever I visited, there was always some kind of project we worked on. One time, we learned to make neckties. One time she taught me how to wrap packages. And then there was the biggest project. Aunt Doris had inherited several rocking chairs from her family. They used to be on the porch of her home in Virginia. They were painted with layers upon layers of paint. Not just any paint, it was battleship paint, because her dad, Rudd, worked at the naval yards where he was a civil engineer. So we put many layers of paint stripper on one of the chairs. We scraped and washed and scraped and washed. There was so much detail on this chair that we couldn’t see. We worked on it until I left. I found out later that Aunt Doris had to end up bringing it to a place where the chair was dipped in paint remover until it was clean. We had no idea how beautiful the rocker actually was until this happened. A couple of years ago, Aunt Doris told me to take the rocker home with me after one particular visit. I tightened the joints and refinished it and it looks beautiful. Every time I look at it I remember how we worked on it together. It is very special to me.
These are my stories but Aunt Doris had many many stories of her own. She used to tell us about her family and what it was like growing up. Her dad taught her how to swim at a very early age by taking her in the ocean. It seemed as though everybody in that family had a nickname; Cooky and Sweetie just to name two. Her nick name was “T-heart”. Even before she met Uncle Sheldon, Aunt Doris led an interesting life. She traveled with her sister Sue to Arizona and San Francisco. They worked while they were out there and met famous movie stars. She also worked at NASA and her picture is even in the movie, “Hidden Figures”. She had so many stories to tell. But of course, we all know the best story was when she met Uncle Sheldon and how they fell in love.
Since Uncle Sheldon got sick, I visited her a couple of times. She told me over and over that she was so grateful and so happy that I came. I was happy to do whatever she needed to help her. She appreciated everything anybody ever did for her. During this time, she called me almost every night. I worried when she didn’t call. During every phone call she thanked me and told me she loved me as I loved her. A phone call a day was nothing compared to the love and support she gave me throughout my life.
And now, there is a phrase in the Bible that is often used when someone dies. It is “they were gathered with their ancestors”. That’s what I am picturing now. Aunt Doris is being gathered with her ancestors and with our family and of course, with her beloved Shelly. After Uncle Sheldon passed I said that I pictured him, his parents, his brother and sisters and their spouses sitting around the kitchen table. Well, now Aunt Doris is completing the group. Aunt Doris, thank you for all of your love and support in good times and bad times. I will miss you. May you rest in peace.
