Remembering Aunt Ellen
I have been blessed to have six aunts; my dad's three sisters, his two brothers' wives, and my mom's only sister, Aunt Ellen. All have been an important part of my entire life, to some degree or another.
Aunt Ellen is gone now, after an extended illness and a brief stint in a much-hated nursing home. Since she never married, she was always present for every holiday and family celebration. For that reason, I may have known her a little better than some of my other aunts.
Aunt Ellen was my godmother when I was baptized at the age of three months. When I was three or four, Ellen painted my fingernails pink. When I was a little older, she often transported Dan and Laura and me from Grandma's and Grandpa's house in Bloomfield, back to Lincoln, where Mom and Dad picked us up and took us the rest of the way home to Fairbury. She always attended our Christmas programs. She played cards and Scrabble with us, bought pearls for Laura and me, and gave me a bright yellow sweater-dress for Christmas one year.
When I was fourteen, Aunt Ellen and I shared a hotel room when we accompanied Grandma and Grandpa to Hot Springs, Arkansas, for a national rural letter carrier's convention. On that trip, she helped me pick out a new red dress, and hemmed it for me, even though she didn't think it really needed to be any shorter. What can I say? It was 1969, and mini-skirts were all the rage.
A few years later, Aunt Ellen made my wedding dress. Mom came along, too, as we shopped for fabric and lace and just the right headpiece. After that, I visited her often for fittings and adjustments.
After Bill and I were married, we moved to an apartment in Lincoln, just a few blocks away from Aunt Ellen's apartment. She was always glad to share information about the best dry cleaners or a good place to buy some shelves. During the year and a half that we lived in Lincoln, she invited me to her place for lunch occasionally, and called me on the phone often.
After we moved to Michigan, Aunt Ellen and Grandma flew to Traverse City to see us and all the sights of northern Michigan. Then we all piled into our little un-air-conditioned Mazda GLC for the long trek back to Nebraska, across Lake Michigan on the ferry, then across Wisconsin and Minnesota before we finally reached our destination.
Aunt Ellen made the christening gown that Erin and Meagan both wore when they were baptized. She bought them Christmas tree ornaments every year until they were nearly grown.
Ellen brought chocolate chip cookies to nearly every family gathering. After she left for home, the rest of us negotiated to see who had to take the cookies home with us. Ellen was a former Home Ec teacher and a long-time food services manager for the University of Nebraska, so no one ever had the courage to tell her that her cookies tasted like sawdust! In recent years, we were usually elected to take the cookies, because Levi never met a cookie he didn't like.
Over the years, Aunt Ellen's jelly-making skills improved drastically. Her first attempts yielded a product that was best used as pancake syrup, but more recent jellies and jams were delicious on toast and pbj sandwiches. Just last week, Bill brought home a whole box of Aunt Ellen's jelly, so it will be quite some time before I have to start buying jelly at the grocery store.
When I first started teaching kindergarten at the Lutheran school in Traverse City, Ellen began to send me things I could use in my classroom. She redeemed hundreds of boxtops, saved from her job at the University, and sent the pencil boxes and other school supplies to me. Since I've been teaching public school, she would still send a check every fall so I could buy books for each of my students to take home. And she loved shopping for crayons and pencils and glue sticks for my students, at the back-to-school sales every August.
Ellen was an avid Husker fan. For years, she didn't miss a home game. I remember many holiday bowl games when she sat with other family members in front of the TV, yelling at the players and the coaches. For a few years, she was in charge of the meals in the football players' dorm, so she knew many of them well, and felt that she had the right to give them some very specific instructions. It was probably a good thing that they couldn't hear her. Aunt Ellen was rather opinionated about many things, but none more than Nebraska football.
When I talked to Aunt Ellen on the phone a couple of weeks ago, she urged me to remind my kids to never, ever smoke. She was right when she stated that smoking ruined her health. Ultimately, her nearly lifelong smoking habit was the direct cause of her death.
Aunt Ellen leaves behind several family members and a few good friends. The family has decided to postpone her memorial service until spring, when all chance of blizzards in Bloomfield is past. Aunt Ellen will be remembered as a generous woman. Family and friends were important to her. We look forward to seeing her again someday in heaven but, in the meantime, we will miss her. We will even miss her cookies.
Aunt Ellen is gone now, after an extended illness and a brief stint in a much-hated nursing home. Since she never married, she was always present for every holiday and family celebration. For that reason, I may have known her a little better than some of my other aunts.
Aunt Ellen was my godmother when I was baptized at the age of three months. When I was three or four, Ellen painted my fingernails pink. When I was a little older, she often transported Dan and Laura and me from Grandma's and Grandpa's house in Bloomfield, back to Lincoln, where Mom and Dad picked us up and took us the rest of the way home to Fairbury. She always attended our Christmas programs. She played cards and Scrabble with us, bought pearls for Laura and me, and gave me a bright yellow sweater-dress for Christmas one year.
When I was fourteen, Aunt Ellen and I shared a hotel room when we accompanied Grandma and Grandpa to Hot Springs, Arkansas, for a national rural letter carrier's convention. On that trip, she helped me pick out a new red dress, and hemmed it for me, even though she didn't think it really needed to be any shorter. What can I say? It was 1969, and mini-skirts were all the rage.
A few years later, Aunt Ellen made my wedding dress. Mom came along, too, as we shopped for fabric and lace and just the right headpiece. After that, I visited her often for fittings and adjustments.
After Bill and I were married, we moved to an apartment in Lincoln, just a few blocks away from Aunt Ellen's apartment. She was always glad to share information about the best dry cleaners or a good place to buy some shelves. During the year and a half that we lived in Lincoln, she invited me to her place for lunch occasionally, and called me on the phone often.
After we moved to Michigan, Aunt Ellen and Grandma flew to Traverse City to see us and all the sights of northern Michigan. Then we all piled into our little un-air-conditioned Mazda GLC for the long trek back to Nebraska, across Lake Michigan on the ferry, then across Wisconsin and Minnesota before we finally reached our destination.
Aunt Ellen made the christening gown that Erin and Meagan both wore when they were baptized. She bought them Christmas tree ornaments every year until they were nearly grown.
Ellen brought chocolate chip cookies to nearly every family gathering. After she left for home, the rest of us negotiated to see who had to take the cookies home with us. Ellen was a former Home Ec teacher and a long-time food services manager for the University of Nebraska, so no one ever had the courage to tell her that her cookies tasted like sawdust! In recent years, we were usually elected to take the cookies, because Levi never met a cookie he didn't like.
Over the years, Aunt Ellen's jelly-making skills improved drastically. Her first attempts yielded a product that was best used as pancake syrup, but more recent jellies and jams were delicious on toast and pbj sandwiches. Just last week, Bill brought home a whole box of Aunt Ellen's jelly, so it will be quite some time before I have to start buying jelly at the grocery store.
When I first started teaching kindergarten at the Lutheran school in Traverse City, Ellen began to send me things I could use in my classroom. She redeemed hundreds of boxtops, saved from her job at the University, and sent the pencil boxes and other school supplies to me. Since I've been teaching public school, she would still send a check every fall so I could buy books for each of my students to take home. And she loved shopping for crayons and pencils and glue sticks for my students, at the back-to-school sales every August.
Ellen was an avid Husker fan. For years, she didn't miss a home game. I remember many holiday bowl games when she sat with other family members in front of the TV, yelling at the players and the coaches. For a few years, she was in charge of the meals in the football players' dorm, so she knew many of them well, and felt that she had the right to give them some very specific instructions. It was probably a good thing that they couldn't hear her. Aunt Ellen was rather opinionated about many things, but none more than Nebraska football.
When I talked to Aunt Ellen on the phone a couple of weeks ago, she urged me to remind my kids to never, ever smoke. She was right when she stated that smoking ruined her health. Ultimately, her nearly lifelong smoking habit was the direct cause of her death.
Aunt Ellen leaves behind several family members and a few good friends. The family has decided to postpone her memorial service until spring, when all chance of blizzards in Bloomfield is past. Aunt Ellen will be remembered as a generous woman. Family and friends were important to her. We look forward to seeing her again someday in heaven but, in the meantime, we will miss her. We will even miss her cookies.
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