Aunt Iva’s 94th birthday dinner

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94th birthday

My cousin and her husband arrived today (from Louisiana) and we all went to Bob Evans, my aunt’s favorite restaurant.  (“It’s cheap and the food is good.”)  Being with her is always a reminder of things past.  A few things I learned today and/or some memories that were jogged by my visit:

  • Mail carriers used to deliver twice a day.  There was a morning and afternoon delivery Mon-Fri, but only one delivery on Saturday.
  • We had outside toilets when I was a kid… and we lived in the big city.  As a matter of fact I can remember when we first got an indoor toilet.  We lived in a three room second floor apartment.  We had two closets in the middle room.  They turned one closet into a bathroom… actually just a toilet… no bath.  When the installation was done I was the first to use the new gadget.  But, I was afraid to flush it, so I called my Dad in to flush it for me.
  • My older brother and I used to contantly fight… as many siblings do.  He resented having to take his little brother with him when he went out.  He also didn’t like the fact that I got to do a lot more things than he did when he was my age.  I think with him being a first-born, our parents were more protective of him.
  • I asked her what she attributed her long life to and she said, “Hell, I don’t know.  Hard work I guess.  I always worked hard.  And two husbands.”  She’s done all kinds of work during her life… from factory work, restroom matron, cleaning houses,  restaurant and store work among other things.  She told me that she worked for $1.50 a day when she was young.
  • I asked he why she never had children of her own and she said, “I just never got pregnant.”
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16 thoughts on “Aunt Iva’s 94th birthday dinner”

  1. It is lovely to actually see your Aunt!! I have a Great Aunt (by marriage) who says the same thing about not having children. It either happened or it didn’t!
    Thanks for letting us into your family Jonco. It’s one of my favourite thing about this site!!
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY Aunt Iva!!

    xo

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  4. Enjoy Auntie while you have her. I lost my Aunt just this past June, she was 89. She was always my foundation and reason to carry on. I miss her so very much,

    Happy Birthday Auntie, We love you.
    Chris
    MN

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  7. She sounds so cool. 😀 It’s awesome how she’s able to provide insight about life in the past.

    Happy birthday Aunt Iva!

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  10. Happy B-Day Aunt Iva… I hope You have Many More… Great Picture Jonco… ah miss spelling of a word…
    My older brother and I used to contantly fight… constantly… (where the Sam Heck did that slippery S Go)

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  14. Happy Birthday to you, Aunt Iva. Your nephew´s face is very similar to yours. So he can have an idea how he will look like when he is over 90´s…

    hugs from Brazil,
    Sônia

    Reply

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