My Great Aunt Linda's Hand Mirror

My Great Aunt Linda was an amazing woman. From what I've heard, she and her husband Vic were like peas and carrots. Always together living life to it's fullest. They never had kids. My mom didn't know why and her only explanation was, "People of her generation didn't talk about that sort of thing. You either had kids or you didn't. If you didn't people assumed there was a problem and that was that."

So they followed their bliss. Or at least my aunt followed her husband's bliss. I've found photos of them on great vacations, her tagging along while he went ice fishing and hunting, with their big old hunting dogs in the back of the truck, swimming in the summer. Then Vic died unexpectedly and my aunt was alone.

The second half of her life was as amazing as the first. She learned to drive, pay her own bills and keep up a house - a challenge for a single woman in the 1940s. She became the Postmaster in our small, unincorporated town. She traveled the world for the USPS with their conventions. Since she knew everyone in town and was involved in church, she became the chauffer for all the other little old ladies who had never learned to drive. Since she she lived alone, her house was so fancy and girly. She had a hot pink plush toilet seat cover (not on just the lid, but the ring where you put your butt!). Flowers everywhere, candy dishes on every table. Plant stands full of African Violets. I loved visiting her house. She was just amazing.

When you grow up in a small town, you spend a lot of time dreaming about getting out, moving to the big city and proving yourself. But my Great Aunt Linda is proof and inspiration to me that you can bloom, grow and prove yourself wherever you are planted.