Death, Life, and Final Exams
My great Aunt Betty died Saturday. Her funeral is tomorrow. I am unable to go because this week is final exams and I cannot leave my post. It is the one day of the whole year that I just cannot go. It makes me a bit sad, Aunt Betty was an extraordinary lady.
She, my grandmother, and their siblings were born in a time where young ladies did very little but find a man to marry and start a family. Their parents, my great grandmother and father, owned a farm in Evansville, IN. It is a beautiful house set on the hill of a beautiful piece of land. They grew everything they ate and raised a handful of animals (pigs, chickens, and goats, mostly). My grandmother and all the other siblings married and left the farm, but Aunt Betty stayed on. When her parents became ill she was the one who cared for them.
Aunt Betty met a man named Arnold and soon they were married. Arnold moved onto the farm and took over operations (because everyone knows a woman simply can't run a farm). They had four children together. Soon enough the world changed and Arnold got a job outside the house. Aunt Betty took over the farm again, raised her children, and supported Arnold in all of the failed business attempts he tried. How did he thank her? By cheating on her with some young bitch named Amber.
So what did Aunt Betty do? She kicked his lying, cheating ass out of the house. She refused to divorce him because that would allow him to marry the whore and take half of the farm, HER families farm, so until the day she died Aunt Betty and Arnold were still married. In those days a woman taking control of her life and the lives of her children was actually looked down upon. Didn't she know a woman's place was right underneath her husband's thumb? She took a lot of shit for being alone, but she stuck to her guns. Her children backed her up because Arnold was a right bastard to everyone.
During this time Aunt Betty suffered from debilitating arthritis. She lived with constant pain and surgery. Yet not one birthday or graduation did she miss. She was present at all of her children's weddings. She never missed a grandchild's birthday. When she was unable to move she would still call or write, letting her family know she loved them very much. About 15 years ago Aunt Betty was moved to a home. She would dress up and clean her room when she expected company. No matter how much pain she was in she never complained. When her body became twisted and trapped her in bed she still had a smile or a laugh for anyone.
Aunt Betty was a class act, there aren't a whole lot of women like her around anymore. The farm now belongs to her children. I hope they will love and protect it the way she did. I know she will be greatly missed, she was the glue that kept a lot of people together.
So goodbye, Aunt Betty, you've always made me want to be a better person. No matter how strange of a child I was you always made me feel special. Thanks for the laughs and for all the advice. We will all miss you greatly.
She, my grandmother, and their siblings were born in a time where young ladies did very little but find a man to marry and start a family. Their parents, my great grandmother and father, owned a farm in Evansville, IN. It is a beautiful house set on the hill of a beautiful piece of land. They grew everything they ate and raised a handful of animals (pigs, chickens, and goats, mostly). My grandmother and all the other siblings married and left the farm, but Aunt Betty stayed on. When her parents became ill she was the one who cared for them.
Aunt Betty met a man named Arnold and soon they were married. Arnold moved onto the farm and took over operations (because everyone knows a woman simply can't run a farm). They had four children together. Soon enough the world changed and Arnold got a job outside the house. Aunt Betty took over the farm again, raised her children, and supported Arnold in all of the failed business attempts he tried. How did he thank her? By cheating on her with some young bitch named Amber.
So what did Aunt Betty do? She kicked his lying, cheating ass out of the house. She refused to divorce him because that would allow him to marry the whore and take half of the farm, HER families farm, so until the day she died Aunt Betty and Arnold were still married. In those days a woman taking control of her life and the lives of her children was actually looked down upon. Didn't she know a woman's place was right underneath her husband's thumb? She took a lot of shit for being alone, but she stuck to her guns. Her children backed her up because Arnold was a right bastard to everyone.
During this time Aunt Betty suffered from debilitating arthritis. She lived with constant pain and surgery. Yet not one birthday or graduation did she miss. She was present at all of her children's weddings. She never missed a grandchild's birthday. When she was unable to move she would still call or write, letting her family know she loved them very much. About 15 years ago Aunt Betty was moved to a home. She would dress up and clean her room when she expected company. No matter how much pain she was in she never complained. When her body became twisted and trapped her in bed she still had a smile or a laugh for anyone.
Aunt Betty was a class act, there aren't a whole lot of women like her around anymore. The farm now belongs to her children. I hope they will love and protect it the way she did. I know she will be greatly missed, she was the glue that kept a lot of people together.
So goodbye, Aunt Betty, you've always made me want to be a better person. No matter how strange of a child I was you always made me feel special. Thanks for the laughs and for all the advice. We will all miss you greatly.
posted by Barbarian02003 | Tuesday, May 06, 2008
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