Farewell to Aunt L

Sad new recently: WF’s Aunt Laura has passed away. She wasn’t doing well recently, but it’s always a surprise to learn that someone is no longer here, no longer with us on this plane. WF’s family is very small, and as an only-nephew (with no cousins), WF and his aunt were fairly close, in a live-hours-away kind of way. I’ve only know her for a few years, but will definitely miss her no-nonsense, slightly formidable life force.


Laura liked giving presents; Museum of Modern Art kitchen ware (we have some really funky knives), books of poetry and regional literature written by friends, the yearly Cat Lovers against the Bomb calendar. Her gifts always carried a touch of sophistication and quirkiness that still seems exotic to me, the child of stolid, rural Midwesterners. When she was in MN for our wedding, she even did a little yoga on our living room floor, ignoring the oxygen tank she was obliged to use by then.

We were able to visit this past fall and a couple years ago at her and her husband’s wonderful old Victorian home (10 hours south of here) filled with art gleaned from years of travel and artistic friends, interspersed with whimsical cat trinkets and real, fluffy, allegedly naughty cats. She grew up as a child of the Depression, and some wedding gift money came with only one stipulation: it could NOT be used for buying chickens. She believed they would tie us down too much (and were dirty, hard work). Last year’s Christmas gift included a calendar of Paris, which she noted that we’d likely never see now that we had chickens (she’s probably right, too!). We all need a little variety of opinion in our lives…

She was a character, all right, and will be missed. WF is headed down to the memorial right now; I needed to stay behind for work (and chickens- irony!?). I wish I could be there to help say good-bye, so am writing this here, instead. Best wishes to her husband and beloved cats, too.


Farewell, Aunt Laura. If there IS another plane out there, I hope it involves lots of cats, art, books and everything else desirable. Wishing you peace….