Eighty three years together

 My Aunts Honey (Martha) & Dusty (Isabelle)  Aunt Dusty just passed away Wednesday.  They were in separable for 83 years.

Here are four of the sisters - Dusty, Honey, Marie, Louise (My mom).  Not pictured are Aunt Connie and Uncle Tom.

There were six  kids born to Anna and Alessandro. A set of twins were born still right before my Mom.  Sadly, as well, is that their father died at age 39 leaving my amazingly strong grandma with six kids to raise on her own.  They were raised with love and faith and tradition and Italian culture and honor. They were close and took care of one another.  My Mom dropped out of school at age 15 to go to work to help out as did all her siblings before her. She worked at the Brass Shop making bullet casings during WW11.

Back to my Aunt dusty and Aunt Honey.  Their story, quite unique. They never married and lived with my grandmother until she died at a young age, 60.  They stayed in the apartment for a while and then became housekeepers for priests.  They worked as such for thirty years.  They were live-in house keepers.  The secrets they hold remain just that, secrets.  They retired to Senior Housing in their town where they lived together the rest of their days. Aunt Honey, the youngest is now 83, Aunt Dusty was 86 when she passed.  They have been together every day for 83 years.  Can you even imagine?

My Gram used to buy them matching clothes - so over time they dressed exactly the same.  After Gram passed away they continued this tradition and always dressed exactly the same including jewelry and matching wigs. Even their food choices were identical.  At any family gathering they would share everything so they each had half of what the other had - their plates were identical.  I guess I could say they were a tad eccentric, perhaps odd,  but at the same time it is what we knew and came to love and honor for all of their days.

Aunt Honey is doing okay, considering.  She has strong faith and a good sense of humor, as did my Mom. I think that is the key to life - to being happy and accepting - to settling in and doing what is necessary to meet challenges and enjoy moments every day.

Three of the sisters were nic-named the "Dolly-Sisters!  Connie, Gil and Louise.  This came to be because at the start of family picnics or holiday gatherings these three amazing sisters would do a singing and dance routine tht always got us all on our feet in applause.  Here is one of the songs they sang and danced to.

Oh such a wonderful memory.

 And so it was that these sisters and one brother grew up strong and kind and loving and faithful.  Aunt Honey now the sole survivor.  God Bless her.  The service for Aunt Dusty is Wednesday.  We will all gather and pray and remember and honor her beautiful life knowing her next life is beginning with all of her family that passed and are forever at our Lord's eternal banquet table - she will rest in peace..... Amen..

A day in the life.....

Hard to believe my boy, Dolan, is 29.  He is happy and living a good life in which his passion for writing is the focus.  Wonderful.  He has been published in magazines, co-edits another and a publisher, albeit a small one, just asked for his book manuscript.  Wow!
Once, he bought me a Cat Stevens CD because of this song - sayin' it was between Mother and Son -  so beautiful......

He still calls me just about every day - and I am always the first one to read any of his new stories, poems, writings and so forth.  My opinion matters!  Such a compliment.

Skipp and I went to Brooklyn to celebrate his birthday Friday in to Saturday.  Quite an endeavor for me, a physical challenge, but I  managed fine. I am filled with gratitude for my meeting the challenges as well as I did.  I am a bit wobbly today but it was worth it.
Here are some pictures of our wonderful trip to Brooklyn.

 Heading over the Robert F Kennedy Bridge

 A view of Manhattan from the bridge

 The 'Dumont' cafe - a lovely real New York style cafe - small, quaint, weathered wood floors and accents, gorgeous gay waiters, .....great food and atmosphere....

Delicious bloody mary

That's water, not wine  :-)

 Our tiny yet lovely hotel room at LaJolie

 Me, trying to show my purple hi-lites, can you see them?

 The Brooklyn Star restaurant where we had Dolan's amazing birthday dinner-celebration

 Dolan and Natalie - how cute are they?

 There we are!

Dolan blowing out his candle on his birthday dessert which was chocolate bread pudding with apples and cream!!

And so the evening went on with good food and a few drinks and lots of laughs and blessing after blessing of family, love, hope and bright futures.  I reveled in his world - celebrated his life and loves - I felt such joy and pride and contentment.  Hallelujah!!

Skipp and I were back at our hotel room by 9:30 and tucked in watching a movie drifting in and out of sleep by ten.  The traffic whizzed by non stop all night and the lights and sounds of the city reminded us of how much we love our country home  :-)

We enjoyed a lovely continental breakfast served up by the hotel and the coffee was delicious as were the croissants, bagels, danish and fruit.  What a treat!!  We hung out leisurely savoring our last couple of hours away.  We were on the road home by noon and finished our time away with a light lunch at a local pub.  The sun was shining, the sky was bright blue with in between bursts of frozen drizzle, but it  mattered not.  We sat for a long while, eating soup and salad, holding hands, talking of our life, our love, our bungalow, our blessings, our simple wish to just maintain and be able to get out and about together for the rest of our days.  Make a little love, do a little dance, get down to life......

and there you have it........................