Here's a picture of me with my Uncle DeMont and Aunt Kate from last summer. My Aunt Kate just passed away last night.She was like a grandma to us, since our Grandma lives so far away from us. She had been in the hospital for about a week and then decided she'd like to be at home in her own bed to die.
I remember some funny things about her. She loved food. I remember my mom telling me that when I was a little baby, Aunt Kate would just keep feeding me and feeding me, so I know she passed on her love of food to me! She also could eat an onion like a tomato! I remember them visiting us in California one year and drove all the way home, across the country with a bunch of elephant sized garlic in the car! She sure loved the sweets too! My sister, Lori made a whole pan of cinnamon rolls for her and said she'd just leave a few of them, but Aunt Kate said, "leave the whole thing!" and told Lori that "Daddy [Uncle DeMont] likes them too!!!" She was a hoot! We've also got a lot of incredible family recipes from her, including my two favorites, "Aunt Kate's Brownies" and "Chocolate Mint Brownies" and yes, she has given me both recipes!
A few other things I remember about her, that cracks me up, is the fact that when she'd travel, she'd pack so much stuff (like my mom does, too!) that she'd have to sit in her seat and have some of the stuff packed around her! And if something still didn't fit, then she'd say "Then I'll hold it on my lap!" She also would save every Ziploc baggy ever used and wash and reuse and then rewash and then re-reuse it! I'm not really sure how many times, but it sure makes me feel a little guilty when I throw them away at home! Oh! And, she would never EVER drink water from the bathroom! I think to her, it was more like drinking out of the toilet and that was just not going to happen! Even now, I feel that bathroom sink water tastes different and sometimes, I just can't drink it either! Weird, right? But that was Aunt Kate!
I think one of the saddest things, is seeing Uncle DeMont. They were so in love. Always holding hands and they ALWAYS kissed after every prayer.
There's a lot of family here now, all the cousins are here (Aunt Kate and Uncle DeMont's kids and their kids) and my siblings from New York and my Mom and step-dad Bob are coming here on Friday. I'm pretty sure we're not going to Oklahoma this next week now, because of the funeral this weekend, which makes me sad that we won't be able to see our Grandma, but my sister, Lori is on the phone right now with Grandma, and let me tell you, if anyone can get Grandma Annie out of the state of Oklahoma for the second time in her life (I can only think of one time she left the state), then Lori is that person!
Keep our family in your prayers!
5 comments:
I liked the very heart warming tribute that you wrote about your Aunt. I am so sorry to hear about your loss. I am glad that you are surrounded by family and I will be keeping you all in my prayers.
Those were some great stories, Francie. I forgot about her holding stuff on her lap!
I still remember when I lived with Deann in college and there were always ziplock baggies hanging out to dry. I thought Deann was doing it and it used to make me laugh. Then once I teased her about it and she was like, "that's my mom!!! I'm not doing that!!! Do you think I have time to wash out baggies?!"
What a great tribute to your Aunt Kate. The story about packing things around herself in the car seat is a hoot. And I thought I overpacked.
Your family's 5 can casserole is now one of my favorites but I use ground turkey or beef, add a can of chick peas or red kidney beans and frozen corn to it. I have two batches frozen in individual Glad containers in my freezer that I made last week.
Is Grandma Annie recovered and well enough to fly? Would someone from OK go along with her to help her?
It's special that so much of your family is there and soon arriving. You all can comfort each other and talk about Aunt Kate stories and smile thinking of her.
You're all in my thoughts.
That was a really sweet post. I am going to miss her so much. Especially in the summer when we have all the vegetables growing, she was forever calling me up to bring her some tomatoes, eggplant, you name it, whatever we had, she wanted it. And you could never bring too much no matter how much you had. I remember going to her house with 4 50# boxes of tomatoes one time, thinking I'd give her a box and take the others to some other people, but she was my first and last stop, cause she wanted them all.
I also remember spending the whole day with her 2 summers ago making several batches of bread and butter pickles. We used the food processor to slice the pickles, but she was not happy because it cut them too thin, she tried to get me and "daddy" to cut them all by hand so they were the right thickness. We told her she was crazy!
lol. we STILL laugh and say, I'm packed like aunt Kate! Remember Franc, that one time when we lived in Amarillo, I was playing outside the apartments and I saw a car that was packed to the windows like they opened the top, filled it up and shut the roof. I ran into the house and said, "there is a car packed like Aunt Kate... Come look, its the funniest thing" and when we ran back out there, it WAS her! they had come to surprise us! lol. THat was sooo funny! I will miss her very much. But at least I still have such vivid, fond memories of her.
Post a Comment