Aunt Petie was mother’s second oldest sister and the intellectual aunt. She loved learning new words and teaching them to us. She and her husband had no children and would invite us kids to spend a weekend at their place every so often. It was such an adventure. They lived with their cats near Griffith Park and Los Angeles in a duplex that was walking distance to a small market. She introduced us to pistachio ice-cream with marshmallow topping. I can’t imagine eating marshmallow topping on ice-cream now but then it was fantastic. When you’re young you can, and do, eat just about everything!Aunt Mae was the third oldest sister and I didn’t know her as well. She and her husband were closer to my sister who lived with them for about 6 months or so when she was a toddler. They also never had any children of their own. Mother’s only surviving sister, Amy, says Mae had a great sense of humor and I wish I had known her well enough to know that. She was the only sister that married a tall man – the other sisters said that tall men reminded them too much of their brothers! She loved cooking and later in life took up oil painting as a hobby and developed her talent as an artist.
Neither one of these aunts had children. Maybe if they had lived at a different time they would have pursued fertility treatments, maybe not. Both couples seemed very fulfilled with each other, devoted even and we always looked forward to their visits. They were very special to their nieces and nephews. Selfishly, I'm sure it would have been different if they had had children of their own.
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