A Special Aunt Remembered - My oh my

Ruth Silverson Nelson McKay Lumbert is a very long name but she fit it.  Aunty Ruth aka Aunty Rufus was the 7th of 8 children and the last of her generation to pass away in my dad's family and she did so at the age of 98.  Her and Uncle Edwin had no children but all her nieces and nephews were her children.  She looked after each and everyone one of us in her own way.  She influenced us as well and showed us what was possible.  She gave us so many fond memories that we looked upon and laughed about yesterday at and after her funeral.   Yesterday I finally had the chance to meet some cousins that I had no met yet and do the drive up to Bellingham for her funeral.  During the trip we compared the memories and many of them were the same.  My parents came down for it as well and then afterwards along with her long time friend Paul and his wife we went out to lunch at one of her favorite places.  As we entered all dressed up the waitress asked me what was the occasion? I answered a celebration.  A celebration of life and briefly explained that we had just had our great aunt's funeral and were there to remember her.  Which we definitely did as we laughed and smiled over the meal.  We were celebrating her life and this was the way she would have wanted it. 

I have not shed a tear until now for a woman that made a very large impact on my life..  But as I write this the realization that she is no longer gracing our world and our lives with her presence the tears have started to fall.  I have regrets that I had not seen her in years and that she had not seen the kids either, but I believe that is because I did not want to see her in a nursing home she had been placed in. Part of me I think, did not want to admit she was getting older, that while the sparkle could have still been in her eyes and she could still make us laugh I wanted my final image of her to be who she was before.  The fantastic woman who lived in that little old house on Alderwood, packed to the rafters with linens and other treasures, tea cups & spoons from around the world, listened to the Seattle Mariners game playing a game, us sitting at the table playing crib (with Uncle Edwin smacking the hand if you touched the cards before they were finished being dealt),  the Fruit Loops in the cupboard hidden away and the shelves of the garage stocked with all the canned & bottled goods she had and we meaned STOCKED especially with those dill pickles she was famous for.  

The memory of the station wagon that I swear was really where Tim Horton's got the saying "filled to the rim" because it was, every time she came to visit us.  Of which we have no idea how she did it without getting caught because she could look straight at the Custom's guy in Blaine and say answer the question of "Do you have anything to declare?" with "No".  When she arrived it was like us kids had struck gold, for she brought up so many treats including the legendary huge Hershey chocolate bars that we could not get in Canada, clothes, school supplies, and who knows what else.  Then there was some of those goods from her garage, dill pickles, sauerkraut, dill pickles,  jams, dill pickles, red cabbage pickles, dill pickles, salmon, dill pickles green beans, and did I mean dill pickles? Her pickles were famous, everyone knows about them that knows her or us.  There is no comparison to them at all and no one can come close, even though I have the recipe for them it isn't the same.

Through Aunty Ruth I got the love of baseball.  She was a die hard Seattle Mariners fan the true fan that every team wishes they had, never letting go no matter what.  From the time they started up she had listened to every game or watched if it was on TV.  While listening/watching she kept stats on every play as it took place up until several years ago when she started to lose her sight.  She had the chance several times to go down and watch them live which she thought was the cat's meow.  Apparently behind her bed at the nursing home was a sign that said something along the lines of do not disturb when a game was on.  Ironically yesterday the Mariners played a game and it was right after her funeral they did not win which would have been nice, but what they did do was announce the trade of the long standing Mariner Inchiro to the New York Yankees who just happened to be playing that day.  I think in some ways it was a good thing it didn't happen until after she was laid to rest because I don't think she would have been happy at all... OR maybe she was and this was part of her last say in things as that is usually what she wanted and got!

So Aunty Ruth, you will be missed greatly but I want to say thank you for everything that you have done for us.  You will always be remembered when we buy the Hershey's bars (which my brother wants every time he comes here, or one of us goes up there); have a spoonful of Fruit Loops; compare the dill pickles to yours; use a recipe from your book; listen to the Seattle Mariners only to name a few.  I'm sure that Dave Neihaus was waiting for you to get there, so you could compare notes and watch the Mariners place at Safeco from the best seat in the house........My oh my!

Facts of Life

Hard to believe but 30 years ago the TV Show with that name was on and lasted almost a decade.  There was Blair, Jo, Tootie and Natalie who were from very different walks of life but came together in the end under the supervision of Mrs Garrett.  I am watching it now and laughing at their antics because I can remember it like it was yesterday.  I remember all the fights they had, the problems, the boyfriends, their adventures. They talked about book banning; the snobs and the people from the wrong side of town working together as well as dealing with each other; those who had a disability such as Geri who had CP; divorced parents and new marriages; death in the family; and even abortion are all things that people can go through as they grow up.  They would have to make decisions that could change their lives forever or affect friends and family.  

Then you saw Jo and Blair graduate from Eastland but it did not mean the girls were apart.  In fact they stayed together in the end because Mrs. Garrett decided to leave Eastland herself and open her own store.  Allowing Natalie and Tootie to become day students instead and all help with the store.  Through all the years we watched other celebrities come in and out such as George Clooney, Megan Follows (Anne of Green Gables), David Spade, and Cloris Leachman adding more to it.

It became one of the top TV programs watched by families and is now seen on various channels and I am glad.  Because those facts of life that the girls were dealing with then are still things that people, especially teenagers deal with today.   Maybe it is time that instead of having to search for reruns of shows we grew up with to watch, there is new shows instead.  Maybe it is time for the major networks like NBC, ABC and CBS to bring back shows that bring families together.  Forget reality, forget crime, forget soap operas, bring back family shows!