Love From my Aunt Sheri

My Aunt Sheri lives far far away. She has lived allllllllllllll over the world. Literally. But she manages to keep in close contact with all of us and I love her dearly for it.

I've often been told that I am like her...she rolls her eyes upwards and laughs as though this is a bad thing but really, it's one of the highest honors.

It also means usually that I've done something really funny (ie embarrassing) and thus everyone says "You are so like Aunt Sheri!"

But it's sweet things too. My aunt writes out notes and puts a stamp on them and sends them to the persons home so they can hold the note - I love that. I sometimes get frustrated because she doesn't do facebook, she doesn't email...but she does text now and that is good for me.

She also talks on the phone. And I am not a phone person. As in - not. at. all.

But I love her phone calls.

Currently, my parents are on vacation. A three week vacation. Seriously. They are actually fulfilling one of their life long dreams of traveling Route 66. I have twelve postcards here stamped from every state they have driven through.

Now, I am pretty sure that by now you all know I am a grown woman...very busy here with a family of my own.

But Aunt Sheri knows my heart. And so she calls me all the time. She knows that I miss my parents and she also knows that even grown up moms still need a mom around, a friend, someone who lets you know that you are loved. Because it's her and I and we seem to be "gifted" this way, I have missed nearly every one of her calls.

Today she called while I was giving all my boys their hugs goodbye in school. What message did she leave me? She sang. She has a lovely voice and I love her to hear her sing. The song she chose to leave on my voice mail?

"Cock a doodle doo! Good morning! Good morning! Good morning! It's time to rise and shine! Good Morning! Good Morning! Good Morning! I hope you're feeling fine! The sun is just above the hill another day for you to fill with all the things you love to do..."

I love my Aunt Sheri.

The last time she was here, she had these super cool sunglasses. I mean, they totally rocked. My Dad found them to be the most hideous things ever, he called them "Elvis glasses". I looooooooooved them. She assured me she would send me a pair.

Instead, she left her pair of sunglasses here for me.

I love these.

I have worn them nearly every day since she left them here. I have taken extra special care of them.

Why?

Because when I wear them, I feel like my Aunt Sheri is with me.

Like I just got one of her hugs. And she is laughing at something and calling me "dear".

This weekend they broke.

The sunglasses.

I am not sure how. But they just fell apart in my hands one morning on my way out of the school doors.

They are the only sunglasses I have ever teared up over.

NEVER ever EVER underestimate the smallest acts of kindness.

They warm the heart.

Even from 100's or thousands of miles away.

Love you, Aunt Sher.

Thanks for being you.

And being in my life.

Attack of the Kissy Woman

When my Aunt is around, well, odd things happen. Fun things. Really too crazy to be anything but reality things. Her whole life is made up of stories like these. I encourage her to write a book, even the journey of writing a book would become something funky hilarious. Take any crowd of average American women and the funny stories they have in a year and then multiply that by three and that is Aunt S in a week. Sometimes a day.

What concerns me is that my mom and sister have started saying things like “things like that only happen to you and Aunt S.”

I'm like her? Well, it means my life isn't boring! And really, I'd be honored to be like my Aunt....
I mean, it gives me stories like this one!

Now, to be honest, Aunt S wasn't with me when this happened. She WAS however, IN the store so she gets credit for this happening to me and S4.

My Mom and Aunt were looking for birthday gifts for S4 and I had already done my find, buy, dash to vehicle, run to store and show up as though I had been strolling slowly thru Super Walmart sipping coffee and stumbled upon Aunt and Mother and S4. So S4 and I were off to get groceries, because we always need groceries.

Always.

We were headed for the coffee isle first. I mean, that is the most important item, yes? They also have these hunking huge containers of Swiss Miss hot cocoa. My husband as a fondness for this cocoa and we go through it so fast that I just prefer to buy the 'economy size' one. It lasts us about two weeks or so.

I was headed down the isle way with my cocoa and coffee and I seen a very old couple staring blindingly at the boxes and boxes and more boxes in front of them. I know this feeling. With so many options, you sorta can't take all the items in at Super Walmart.

“Sweetie, do you know where the cocoa is?” the old lady asked me.

Now, there was an entire wall of cocoa in front of them. Literally. Tons and tons and tons of boxes of every kind of cocoa. “Ummmmm, well, ( I didn't want her to feel bad.) There is all this cocoa, um, right here.”

“Oh!” she had a loud cackley voice, “HERE it is!”

I had a feeling I was not excused to move on yet. “Does that help?” I asked.

“Well, we just want regular cocoa. You know, hot cocoa.”

How would you answer that one? I wanted to be respectful and helpful. “Well, there is this regular Swiss Miss variety right here, in envelopes which is nice. Our family drinks this kind. Or it's here in a can. It just depends how much you want to drink.”

“What kind do you get, sweetie?”

“Well, there are a lot of us. We get this...” I held up the can I had in the cart. The super humongous “Great for offices” written on the front canister.

“That's it!” the old woman nearly danced a jig. “That's what we like to get! Where did you find that, dearie?”

There was no way at all the silent man and the loud woman were going to find this. I also found it odd that not a single other person was in this isle with us...

“Why don't you just take mine?” I offered sweetly.

S4 is watching all this in the basket of the cart. He isn't saying much but the woman is so loud and laughs so much you just can't help but kinda stare at her. And that is what he silently was doing.

“Oh, bless your heart! Bless your sweet heart!” she clapped.

The man smiled politely, putting the ginormous can into the cart. I have no idea at all how they will drink all that cocoa. Unless they do drink it as much as my husband does......

Because the old woman and I were now friends, she suddenly needed to chat. Spying S4 she declared to anyone in a six isle radius, “Ohhhhhhhh, I am going to kiss that little boys cheeks!”

S4 made himself as small as possible. His eyes were the size of saucers. His face was as pale as the white snow outside. And that old lady could MOVE. She was at the side of the cart in lightening speed and had his face in her gnarled hands and was bending down to kiss him. I had a sudden flash of fear, what if the little old lady fell IN the cart on S4?

What would you do? S4 was scared beyond speech. The old lady wasn't really going to hurt him. Do I force S4 to let the old bright red lipsticked lady kiss his sweet baby cheek?
I had to think fast because S4 had now moved his feet up the cart to brace himself away from her and his hands were outstretched in defense mode and his face was so scrunched up as if he were about to get a shot.

But thankfully, she noticed this (finally, it was quick but seemed eternity like) and stood up. “oh, he is a shy boy. What a pretty little boy. I had nine brothers. Yup, I sure did. Didn't I?” she looked to her husband.

“Yup, I got the runt.” the man smiled. His eyes were kind and patient, he had been thru this a time or two, I could tell.

“Well”, I smiled beginning to slowly inch my cart away, “He has three brothers.”

“Oh, he does! I had brothers. Didn't I have brothers? How many brothers did I have?” she looked to her husband for an answer.

“Nine.”

“Yup, nine brothers. I was the only girl. My husband had to steal me away.”

Suddenly, the woman got all animated. “Ohhhhhhh, let me kiss those cute little baby boy cheeks!” she cried, and went to kiss S4 again.

This time I could tell she was going to get hurt. There was no way S4 was letting her even near him. “well, we have to run.” I began to walk away.

“But what about that cocoa?”

I wasn't sure if she remembered she had some. “Oh, I'll get some more, don't worry.”

I quickly headed to the back of the store.

S4 was silent. And then he simply said, 'that lady wanted to kiss me. Girls should NOT kiss boys.”

I needed to get home pretty fast to be there when the boys got home so I was in a hurry, we weren't in the store long at all. But we seen that couple no less than four times and every time, across all the isles (and I was peeking before we headed down them) she would call out “Oh, I am going to kiss you little boy!”

S4 has refused to even think of going to the Super Walmart again.