Leona and Howard

What favorite aunts and uncles did you have in your family?  Aunt Leona and Uncle Howard were two of my favorites. They were actually my father’s aunt and uncle, Leona being the older sister of his mother, my grandmother, Claire.  Both women were also my godmothers and shaped me into the woman I am today.

Childless, Aunt Leona and Uncle Howard made all their nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews (and they had a lot of them!) feel like they were their own children – perhaps, a side benefit of being able to return them to their parents!  To this day, my father speaks so warmly of the time he spent at their home in the summers – rain falling on the attic roof, feeding the chickens, riding the truck with his cousin Dwayne through the fields.  I distinctly remember their beautiful landscaping of endless flower beds, slate koi ponds with the lily pads, and the big brown bear rug on their living room floor staring out at the snow falling in the valley at Christmas visits.  And, don’t forget the soda pops kept in the ice room built into the cellar rock wall which was just as much mystery as anything!

Both Leona and Howard grew up after the turn of the 19th century when trains ruled the country and hunting was a way of life. An only child, Howard’s father was killed when he was about 4 years old and raised by his now-single mother. Howard was a conductor on the Erie R.R. and influenced my brothers’ love of trains. He was also a skilled mason, deftly making rock into structures of beauty and purpose. Howard’s carpenter skills were always on display in the home he built, Mon Abri, for his love, Leona, and in the church, St. Peter’s, that was an integral part of their life.

Leona was ‘one of the boys’ having been the oldest sister in a family with seven boys.  She could fish, shoot and skin a deer, let alone a bear, and played just as hard as the boys did! Amelia Earhart was a contemporary and I often wonder if Amelia’s daring brought out my aunt’s.  There wasn’t much Aunt Leona couldn’t do – pickling, making wine, deconstructing family socks and sweaters to crochet or knit new afghans and mittens – a truly renaissance woman.

I can still hear my uncle’s voice calling me “honey” and taste my aunt’s homemade birthday cakes made for each and every one of us on our special days.  I was recently given a box full of photo albums and prints from their basement long after their passing in the 1990’s. In it, were images from their childhood and life as young newlyweds – what a treasure box it was!  They were so much fun as a child and the photos showed they were always having a good laugh and enjoying life.  This discovered photo, unknown to me before the box delivery, is one of my new favorites, dates to the 1930’s during a painting session!