I Love You to the Moon and Back

I saw this writing prompt on Mama Kat's blog and I knew who I envisioned as the person immediately.

Describe someone in your life you wish you saw more of.

Without a doubt that would be my Aunt Maureen. She is my Dad's older sister. She was a teenager when my father was born, so she helped raise him, which I think has resulted in a very close relationship between them. She takes no "sass" from my Dad which is so entertaining to watch, she is basically the only person alive who can can get him to the point where he gets all meek and says "yes ma'am". Which makes her an amazing woman to me.

Obviously that would not be the only reason why I wish I saw more of her. My aunt or "Auntie" as we call her in my family, is just an amazing woman full of love. She was the fiery redhead (naturally too!) that I have always been envious of. I even inherited her skin, I freckle like crazy in the sun and burn like a lobster, there is no in between for either of us, no tan in there anywhere. She is so warm-hearted, I can always count on at least 2 great hugs when I see her. And it is like being enveloped in love. Because she radiates it, and lets you know it too. She makes you look deep into her eyes, no looking away, and tells you how much she loves you. Which is just an amazing quality, and makes you feel so good.

Not that it was always like this. When I was really little, I remember finding Auntie a bit intimidating and strict. She was a different person then, personally I think she was not herself, she was trying to live up to the town she lived in, a richy town in CT. When she and Uncle John moved their family out to the farm, Auntie began to loosen up, and in my opinion, be the person my Dad talked about all the time. Not that I can really remember that much, but what I do know is, the hugs started happening more and more, and the way I felt around her got more and more comfortable, until she was just MY Auntie.

She also reminds me so much of my grandmother, I have told her, Grandma seems just a little bit closer when I am around her. My Grandma's Australian accent was much more pronounced then Auntie's, but my Aunt does still have that voice that reminds me of my Grandma. Auntie and my Uncle Garry were both born in Australia, and lived there for the first few years at least of their lives. Technically, they are the biological children of a man I do not like, my Grandma's first husband. Obviously I am influenced by the fact that I LOVED my Grandpa, but their bio-father was not good to Grandma. My Grandpa met her during the war, and he brought her and Garry and Maureen back to the states and adopted them both. Auntie, to my utter delight and love, has explained to me, while this other man may biologically be her father, my Grampa was her DAD. Which just makes me love her more. There has NEVER been a feeling that she is only half my Aunt, never been a word that sounded like that was how she saw or felt it. I am her niece and she is MY Aunt, 100%, no doubt about it. Some of her mannerisms remind me of Grandma, the things she cooks remind me of Grandma. It is like, when Auntie is giving me a hug, my Grandma is looking over us, smiling. And that is just a wonderfully, comforting thought.

When we moved to Florida 10 years ago, for about 3 months I was there, we were miserable (another post for that story) so we had a family talk and moved back to CT. Well we had sold our house, and needed to find a new one, but it wasn't going to happen like BAM, we have a house all ready to move into. We were welcomed into the home of my Auntie and Uncle John (the craziest, lovable man you could have for an uncle, LOL). We lived there from September until mid-December when the house we had chosen was finished being built. I treasure that time we had at my Aunt's (now non-working) farm. We got even closer to one another, sitting down to dinner every night. Watching tv shows together. My sisters had to get up in the wee hours of the morning in order to drive the 45 minutes to their high school (SHS baby, it is where Kate went before the move and where we would be living again, so naturally they went there) and my Aunt, well she naturally gets up that early, so they had breakfast together, just the three of them in the mornings. We just became an even closer family through that time, and I have said ever since I do not want to LOSE that.

So, my Aunt living a 45 minute drive away, it has reverted to seeing them on major holidays and such, which is just not good enough for me. I really loved it when for about 2 summers there, we were the ones who talked my Aunt into being a cook at Young Women's Girl's camp. That was a week where I saw my Aunt everyday, and was with her as soon as we got there (I do not camp anymore) in the morning, cooking along side her until we left around 8 at night for the drive home. Then, since it was no longer our stake we got kicked out. Boo. And then this year my Aunt was called to be the head cook at Girl's Camp, and a bunch of her cooks fell through, or went home early, and she sent out the "bat signal" and my Dad, sisters and I responded. That first day we went up, it was just me and Dad. And I could see, as someone who knows my Aunt well now, she was stressed out. And so happy to see us. I may have mentioned this hug before. She held on so tight for like 4 minutes straight, and I could feel the tears that wanted to come out, but she is such a brave woman, not wanting other people to see how stressed out she was. I will never forget that hug, ever. I felt like I was where I was supposed to be, and that this time, I could be there for my aunt, instead of it being her who was there for me. And my Dad and I both knew we needed to get her alone, and she was finally able to cry, really cry, which is not something I have seen much of, not that kind of crying. She was overwhelmed by everyone else's feelings, and so we stood there the three of us, alone in the woods, hugging. And my Dad told her, taking no balking from her, he was giving her a blessing. And my Aunt told him, please can we do it now. And so we did, the three of us, and I could see some of the weight leave my Aunt's shoulders, as the blessing was given.

I was so emotional and upset on my Aunt's behalf that I needed to let off some steam so I called my sister's. And once they heard all the details (no I did not go into them this time) and the extent to how upset my Aunt was, well they drove up ( over an hour to get to the camp in Mass.) in time to help get dinner ready, and she was so happy to see them, she held them so close too. How could anyone not love a woman like this, so full of love, hardly ever asks for anything for herself, puts everyone else before her. And she deserves to be spoiled rotten and loved to the moon and back. And that is how much I love her.

So these holidays are not cutting it for me. It isn't good enough anymore. I want to see Auntie as much as possible, I would take a once-a-month get together in a heartbeat, because I love just sitting around with her, talking about whatever it may be. Even if it is about Uncle John cutting the tip of his finger off and refusing to go to the doctor until his finger has turned black...yes I am serious. I told you, my crazy lovable Uncle John. So the person I want to see more of, is MY Aunt Maureen. The best Aunt a girl could ask for.