Condolence: My Aunt Jeannette lived life large: at times so funny, so irreverent, so generous, so unafraid. She had a laugh that drew you in. She would say anything to anyone at any moment so you buckled your seat belt and took the ride. You knew where she stood. There was no mincing of words and there were times she delighted in shocking.
With me she was generous. As kids, we sledded down Chancellor Street and ran into Aunt Jeannette’s house to warm up with her hot chocolate. She took me on family vacations, she hosted Easter and Thanksgiving dinners and sent me all her professional clothes when she retired. She prepared Easter baskets for my children and let them get as messy as possible in her creek bed.
Although she was worldly in thought and travel, the farm never left her. She loved nature and gardening flowers and vegetables. She ate corn on the cob, sometimes raw, without butter or salt. She loved her yard and her trees and cats. She was “an active adult” before the expression was known. She joined book clubs and dinner clubs, played tennis and skied. She loved life and I miss her.