Sweet Aunt Nancy

My Aunt Nancy may never know how truly special she is to me. I know she is special to a lot of people, but I want to share why she is such a special person. Aunt Nancy is 80 years old, exactly twice my age. She has been around ever since I was born!

From as far back as I can remember, Aunt Nancy has taken the place of a grandparent in my mind. She bought me my very first bike (new and not a hand me down!). I am getting side tracked. Buying me things is not why she is special to me!

Aunt Nancy and her former husband, Uncle Stan, know the value of work. When I was about 10 I started doing chores for them when I went over to their house, and they would pay me a fair price for my labor, although I think they stuck in a few extra bucks just for me! I remember vividly scraping paint on their porch and painting it again. I think they had their porch scraped and painted twice a year. Once by me and my sisters, and once by our cousins, just so they could teach us principles of hard work and earning a living. They also paid us for mowing the lawn, which I think may have been mowed every day of the summer for all I know! They taught me to operate a riding lawn mower by the time I was 12, and I really enjoyed that. I also raked a lot of twigs and leaves around the yard.

Aunt Nancy is also special because she always stocked her refrigerator with cheese and sodas, and her cabinets with twinkies so we would always have a treat to eat when we visited. She is a very generous lady and always thinks the best about everyone (well, almost everyone!). She gives, and gives, and gives and doesn't ask for much in return.

Aunt Nancy is a great crocheter (if that is a word). She gave me an afghan when I was younger that I will always treasure. I hope that when Aunt Nancy leaves this earth, I can be as special to someone else as she is to me.