My favorite group writing project, hosted by my friend Robert Hruzek of Middle Zone Musings, has come around again. This month’s topic is: what I learned from colorful characters.
I’m sure we’ve all got our own definition of colorful characters. In my case, I think of those larger-than-life eccentrics who just seem to do everything BIG. They are also perhaps the folks who take you by surprise and refuse to fit any mold no matter what you expect.
My Aunt Lucille fits that definition perfectly.
Aunt Lu had allergies for as long as I could remember. This never slowed her down somehow: despite allergies to pets (cats mostly), she still visited people, even if she forgot her antihistamines and inhalers at home. Nothing was as important to her as the people she loved.
Not that this was necessarily a smart way to manage her allergies. She was eccentric in how she managed allergies too. In fact, she ended up in emergency a few times because she insisted on visiting either myself or one of my brothers – and we all had cats. Unfortunately, poorly managed asthma (often allergy related) is a significant cause behind emergency room visits and she never thought she should take her medication unless she had symptoms already.
We tried to get her to take the antihistamines before she turned up at our place. It was a losing battle.
Eventually, some of us cat lovers smartened up – and ditched the cats in favor of the aunt. When my 19-year-old long-haired Persian died, my aunt allowed her to be buried on her property. “She’s family,” was what my dear Aunt Lucille said, even if my particular cat had been responsible for more than her share of my aunt’s breathing troubles. (I had a black cat; little did I know that dark-colored cats actually produce more allergen!)
She never seemed to take care of herself as well as she took care of the rest of us. When allergies plagued her, she “toughed it out”. That was the generation she came from.
Aunt Lu never married; played the church organ for most of her life; and, she swore like a truck driver when annoyed. She told me that she fell in love once, with a pilot who was killed over the English channel in the Second World War. She never loved anyone like that man, so she didn’t feel that she should marry someone who was just second best. While we might call this eccentric these days, I admired her for her integrity.
She could be the toughest person to live with when she was angry. If you were hurt by someone else, no one could be more compassionate. She died 7 years ago, right around this time of the year. She was 79 years old.
I still miss her. How can you explain a “character” like that to people who never met her?
I learned too many things to number from this fine woman. But perhaps the most important thing I learned was be yourself. Aunt Lu never made herself over for anyone. And I’m glad she didn’t.
Sources: Physician’s Weekly; BeAllergyWise
