Two Birthdays and a Funeral

Happy Birthday Martin Luther King Jr.

and Happy Birthday Aunt Pinky

Aunt Pinky is my grandmothers sister. That might seem a distant relative in any other family, but not mine. She stepped in when my Grandma died, attending every important event in a young persons life. She catered my wedding after she had officially retired from catering, taught me how to make Candy Apple French Toast, and how many times to let bread dough rise so it would turn out "just right."

Today Brandon and I will be attending a celebration in her honor. There will be shared memories, open laughter and even her famous "Joe Frogger" cookies. She has been reunited with those she loves so much. She is free at last.

Hug Grandma for me, won't you Aunt Pinky?

My mothers thoughts, aunt Pinky in a nutshell:

Elegant, refined, gracious....and to every ‘cuzzin’....she was just ‘Aunt Pinky. She had such style she could have worn a paper bag into a room and have people in awe at her choice. And yet she was inventive enough to hot glue the front fender back on her Taurus when she was late for a meeting.

Her gourmet meals were legendary, and her rolls were unequaled. But I remember most the Sunday meals she would have the kids take next door to her single neighbor , every week. And who can forget the road trip she and Chic made with the pot roast tied to the engine (basting it at every gas stop!). They enjoyed a hot dinner in the park with (was it Betty and Howard ?) that evening at the end of their journey!

She was surrounded in her home by the beauty she had created. She made my wedding dress from several patterns. And the day my divorce was final, I saw her in the front yard planting daisies in my flower box. She said to me, ‘Hold your head up, keep your children clean, stay close to the Lord, and accept no labels’.