Auntie V, Auntie V!

Remember I told you yesterday that my Nanny would be 99 this week if she were still alive? Well the day after her birthday is my Auntie V’s birthday. She is beautiful and wonderful and the sweetest person I have ever met. She is in her early stages of octogenarism and does not act nor does she look like it.

I can not begin to tell you what a wonderful role model this woman has been to me. You see I tend to prattle on, no really I do, anyway she would sit for hours on the front porch and listen to my tales. She would even encourage me and she still does to tell my stories and write my life. She and I would sit in the porch swing and she would listen to me spout my view on how life on the ranch was moving along. She would nod and smile and listen. No she would really listen. She would listen and ask me questions and applaud me when I used new words in the correct context. She encouraged me to nurture my imagination as she did hundreds of other children as their teacher.
She is the mother of my multi-talented and imaginative quirky cousins. She grew up the sister to Trooper Bob, bless her heart. Trooper Bob loves his sister fiercely and truly. He also loves to aggravate her. Now you might think that this duo would outgrow this childish behavior of little brother teasing older sister but it has not.

What you ask am I talking about? Well I will start with a story from their childhood.

May and Jack loaded their teenaged daughter, Vee, and their pre-teen son, Bob, into their 1938 Ford Sedan. They set out on their journey to see May’s family down in Bandera County. They had not been on the road long before Bob began pestering his sister.

He would poke her and pinch her and then turn on his innocent face as soon as his sister protested. Finally when he had her at her wit’s end he saw the perfect opportunity. “Hey Vee, look there is a Piggly Wiggly grocery store.” She looked at where his finger was pointing and said in her best teenage girl put down “so?” Bob shrugged and said “nothing, just thought you’d like to see it.” Vee crossed her arms and went back to starring out the window at the blur of fence post and barns. “Hey Vee,” Bob said “you know what?” She sighed turned and looked at her little brother and said “what?” Bob grinned his big ear to ear grin knowing he had the fish on the hook “did you know Piggly Wiggly had a sister?” Vee squinted her eyes and said “no he didn’t. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Bob continued to grin and said “yeah he did. I swear. I know a girl who knows another girl whose dad knows the owner.” Vee looked at her little brother trying to gauge his sincerity and said “oh is that so? Well just who is Piggly Wiggly’s sister?” Bob reeled in his catch “her name is Hoggly Woggly.” This caused Bob to fall into hysterical laughter and Vee to roll her eyes and cry “Mother! Make him STOP!”

Now fast forward sixty something years. Trooper Bob, Nurse Meme and Vee decided to make a cross country trek in the motor home. They left their little city in the middle of west Texas and drove to Canada. They are traveling along and what do you think Bob asks Vee? She didn’t fall for it this time. So Bob waited until the time was right. He waited until he had the wiser Vee at a disadvantage. She was asleep on the fold out couch which had an air mattress. She was sleeping soundly and Trooper Bob sneaked out of his sleeping quarters and up to her bed. He flipped the valve open on her mattress and deflated her mattress with her still on it. Years had past since Vee and Bob’s mother had passed but she knew she still had an ally and so Vee yelled “Meme, make him STOP!”

She takes all of this teasing a pestering with grace. She moves through the world with a peace and a wisdom that I can only hope to achieve. So my dearest darling Auntie Vee I hope you had a wonderful day. I hope your eighty first year in this world will be full of fun and adventure and most of all I hope it is pester free from that pesky little brother.
I also must add I aspire to your heights of self awareness and peace.