Growing up, I thought of Aunt Dorothy as a movie star because she lived in California. As a little girl, while mommy wrote her letters, I would draw her pictures. The year after mommy died, Dad drove us to California and I met her for the first time, at nine years old. The first words out my mouth were, 'You look just like mommy.' And she did!
Over the years, Grandma always made sure I knew where Aunt Dorothy was because she and her husband moved a lot. After Grandma died, I learned that Aunt Dorothy had moved back to the area and was living in an assisted living facility not far from home. Seeing her for the first time in so many years, she asked, "Who do I look like now?" 'You look just like Grandma!' And she did!
We had a few precious years filled with memories. She told stories and filled in family history. She told of an early Christmas memory going to her Grandma's big house in Pittsburgh. She described a giant tree, 2 stories tall, around which the children sat waiting for their special gift. They each got one present and she was delighted with a mickey mouse watch - all the rage that year.
Growing up, Aunt Dorothy always sent us a box of dates for Christmas so I began making a little treat package for her including dates. But her favorite part was a bag of fortune cookies that she would save for New Years eve. She would gather her friends and they would open them then.
And so, every year I have dates at Christmas and find fortune cookies if I can. I'll hear her infectious laugh, see her and mommy and Grandma too. I'll thank them for all the gifts they gave me that are far bigger than even that giant Christmas tree.
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