Kerry’s Garden

Last week two of my great aunts crossed over within about 24 hours of each other. One, Aunt Lillian, I had known since I was a child. She was my grandmother’s brother’s wife, my mom’s aunt. She and her husband Doyle were two of the sweetest, most gentle souls I have ever known. She lived in Oklahoma so I didn’t get to see her much but she made quite an impact on my life in spite of the distance in miles and years. When I started trying to get my genealogy down on paper, she was a major help. She had been bitten by the genealogy bug many years prior and had done a lot of work on my mom’s mom’s side of the family already. Some years later I was very happy to be the one to break through one brick wall that she had been researching for some time. With all she had given me on my quest it felt good to be able to give something back.

A couple of years ago I went to Oklahoma to visit family and during the trip we stopped by Aunt Lillian’s house, she was 89 then. I had asked her if the family was going to do anything special for her 90th birthday. She replied, ‘no, my sister will be 107 this year so 90 isn’t really a big deal’. While we were there I fell in love with a rather large bed of petunias that volunteered every year right in front of her house. The smell was heavenly and the lavender color was one of my favorites. Today I planted some petunias in Aunt Lillian’s honor. Now when I look at them this summer I will think of her. Aunt Lillian was 93 when she passed.

During that same Oklahoma trip I met Aunt Ella for the first time. She was the eldest living sister of my grandmother Verda. I am sorry I didn’t get to know her better. She had a hard time using the phone as she had a hard time speaking so we didn’t get to talk like I would have liked. Ella was 97 when she passed.