Aunt Mamie

I've been checking out Ancestry.com web site and finding my roots. Not for any particular reason. My mother's maiden name is rather unusual, so it makes it easy to research that kind of thing. Anyway, I was checking out her side of the family and I started thinking about my Aunt Mamie. Actually, she's my great Aunt Mamie. She and her family lived in Beaufort, NC. Every summer, we spent part of the time down in Atlantic Beach, which is just a few miles from Beaufort, and we would go and visit my mother's family. These were my mother's aunts, uncles and cousins. But Aunt Mamie was my favorite. She lived in a trailor beside her son and daughter-in-law's house. They lived on a farm. I think this might be where I actually fell in love with a farm. There was a dirt road that led to their houses and, being at the beach, it was really made of soft sand which felt great to summer's bare feet. The fields were across the street from the houses and they would always let us pick watermelons to take home. Feral cats lived under the house and there was always a new litter of wild, untouchable kittens. It was always warm and there was always tea.

Aunt Mamie was my Grandfather's sister and they looked a little alike. She was very sweet and always had a smile on her face...much like I remember my Grandfather. She had a bird that could do tricks. She had found that bird and given it a good home. She loved him. And that was the coolest thing I had ever seen.

My mother was an only child, and after she died, we completely lost touch with her family. It's a shame really. I did learn that my Aunt Mamie didn't die until 1995. that was a full 5 years after my mother died. I think she was about 98 when she died. I would have loved to have seen her again. Her son and his wife still live in the same place. At least I think they do. I should probably look them up, don't you think?