My old friend Michael Farrar brought up the old Hatley red light tonight and that brought back a memory. My Aunt Linda came from St Louis to visit us for a few weeks when my Grandpa Palmer was very ill. Linda Lee was a beautiful, petite blonde, always impeccably made up. Her eyeliner is an inspiration to me still. She wore her long hair up in a French chignon and was always dressed just so, usually with copious cleavage, much to the consternation of my Gramma Willie. Even so, Linda was a saint. She absolutely adored children and had the patience of Job. Dena Lee Kennedy, the only Weed girl without a nette in her middle name was named after her. She would do things like have all of us girls plus her two girls and any other kid who happened to be there make apple pies to deliver to old people in the area. She never raised her voice or got irritated or grumpy. One day she took us all on an outing. I do not remember what all we did but we ended up at the skating rink, rolling away while she sat on a bench, a look of long suffering patience on her face, occasionally smiling and waving as we went by. Finally at about ten oclock she announced that it was time to go. Even as tired as we were, We begged to stay and while she was still very soft spoken, I sensed that she had endured as much as she could stand with five rowdy girls. On our way home to the hills and unpaved roads of Parham community we came to the stop light. It was red. I remember that she braked, glanced around at that silent and empty intersection and, still in her patient, soft voice, said this is ridiculous and sailed on through that red light. I was thrilled! A rebel, just like me! Sadly, Aunt Linda died in a car wreck while still a relatively young woman. I know my mama misses her so much and I am so glad we got to spend that time with her. She really was an angel.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 02:53:00 +0000
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