Aunt Phyllis--March 1, 2016

I know I wrote about my Aunt Phyllis last year, on this date, which is her birthday.  See here.   But I wanted to do it again, because I miss her.

I always told her March 1st is my favorite day of the year, which it is.  But not because it is her birthday, but because I feel like the long national nightmare (i.e. Winter), is on its way out...even though it can last for another two months around here, it is on its way out.   That is why April 1st was her favorite day of the year (and not because it is my cousin's birthday, which I think he thought.) Because, to her, the cold weather was on its way out.

Aunt Phyllis hated the cold.  She became thin as she got older (unlike me...), and she was always cold.   I remember her coming to Anna's dance recital in June, and she was wearing a black wool cape.   Outside.  It was at least 90 degrees.  It was absurd.  It was embarrassing, really, because people were all wearing cotton dresses, and sweating, and she was outside, wearing a wool full-length cape.  Needless to say, it attracted some attention.    I asked her to please remove the wool cape, and she said "no, I am cold."   So, that was that.

Anyway, I miss my Aunt Phyllis.  I think of her often.  I wish she were here to help with some things that need help.   And she probably knows what that means.   She strongly believed in the afterlife.

My aunt told me the story that when she was young, she lived in a row home in Philadelphia, and next door lived a lovely German couple, who never had children of their own.  Miss Frank loved my aunt when Aunt Phyllis was a little girl.  Miss Frank always said that when Aunt Phyllis had her first child, she would come to help my Aunt Phyllis with the baby.  My aunt loved Miss Frank, and was devastated when Miss Frank died when my aunt was just a teenager.

Miss Frank must have known that my aunt would need help with the baby, because Aunt Phyllis got married at 16, and had my cousin, Greg, a year later.  At age almost 18, but still 17.    One night, when Greg was just a baby, still in a bassinet at the bottom of the bed, she woke up one night, and saw Miss Frank staring down at the baby, smiling.  My aunt said nothing, then Miss Frank looked at my aunt, and smiled.

I can remember being terrified of this when I was young, but when I asked my aunt if she was afraid when she saw Miss Frank, she said simply "no, I loved Miss Frank."     She told me that story several times when I was young, and she absolutely believed that it was Miss Frank there, looking down at the baby Miss Frank said she would come and help my aunt with someday.

So, if my Aunt Phyllis is listening, I hope she realizes that there is someone in my extended family who could use a little visit from her.   She loved her, and she really loved her family, and this family could use a little help from Aunt Phyllis right now.