Saturday, July 17, 2010

The Girl and Her Aunt

The Girl and Her Aunt

Once upon a time there was a scrawny young girl. She was a little bit shy and sometimes silly. She had an aunt that lived very far away from her. She didn’t see her aunt very often but she heard lots of stories about her because the aunt was the big sister of the girl’s mom. The girl heard that her aunt was very cute and could dance the jitterbug like nobody else when she was a teenager. The girl thought it was so romantic that the aunt had eloped with her boyfriend and that they had six children together. “What a big family!” the girl thought to herself.

One day, the girl’s mom and dad said they could all go to visit the aunt on her farm. So they drove and drove for many miles and finally the girl got to be with her aunt. She was so excited! The aunt didn’t dance the jitterbug anymore, but she did let the girl and her cousins use broomsticks and mops for microphones. They pretended they were The Supremes singing “Stop In The Name of Love”. The little girl was being very silly and the aunt laughed and laughed and she was silly, too! When it was time to leave the farm, the girl cried very hard, and so did the aunt. And this helped the girl to not feel so shy. This helped the girl to know her far away aunt better.

Time went on, and the girl became a teenager and the aunt moved farther away. One day, the teenage girl’s mom and dad said they could all go to visit the aunt at her home on an island. So they drove and drove for many miles and finally the girl got to be with her aunt again. She was so excited! The girl didn’t sing with broomsticks anymore, but she had fun swimming in the lake with her cousins and talking about things with her aunt. And she didn’t feel shy because her aunt let her say whatever she wanted. And her aunt said what she wanted, too. And they listened to each other. Sometimes they were sad together and sometimes they were silly. And this helped the girl to know her far away aunt better.

More time went by, and the girl grew up into a young woman. She got married and had children of her own. And her aunt sent the young woman and her children birthday cards every year. And the aunt poured out her thoughts on the cards so much that she would run out of room and have to write sideways to fit it all in. Some thoughts were very sad and some thoughts were silly and all of the thoughts were sent with hugs and kisses filled with love. And so the young woman stayed close to her far away aunt and her children did, too.

Many years passed, and the young woman got older and so did her aunt. One day, the woman’s parents said the aunt was very sick. The woman’s mother flew far away to be with the aunt. But this time, the woman could not go along. So she stood outside alone at night and talked to her far away aunt. And she knew that her thoughts would reach her aunt because it had never mattered to them how far apart they were. And the woman felt a little silly out there in the dark and quite sad because her aunt was so sick. “I love you, Auntie,” said the woman.

And when the aunt finally died, the woman knew that they would always love each other, wherever they were, happily ever after.

©Conni Cartlidge, 2005

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