My uncle Joe T was a reserved man so I never really got to know him. I heard he was pretty wild when younger. He served our country on the front lines in WWII. He worked hard and made a good life for his family. There are a few stories that I have heard about him but the one that always comes to mind is that at the end of WWII, when the death camps were being liberated, Joe T’s commanding officer came to him and, against standing orders, got him to his brother Robert’s side. Robert was a POW and it was doubtful that he would survive. Our family owes that CO thanks, not only did Joe T get to see Robert, but maybe, that encounter gave Robert the strength he needed to hang on and live on.
His wife, my Aunt Helen, was just the opposite of this quite man. She was always bustling around and chatting away. She loved to cook for the family, and oh was she good at it. It was hard to get away from the kitchen table when you visited her. She was this sweet little whirlwind energy. One of my favorite memories of Helen, of course, centers around the table. We were all starting the meal when Helen jumps up, shocked, that she didn’t have a desert ready. She starts pulling a few things out of her cabinet, and somehow, before we were done eating there was fresh cobbler and a made from scratch cake for every one to enjoy.
Helen never forgot a face. I was driving her somewhere, not sure where, but we stopped at a rest area near Chattanooga. Twenty minutes later, still no Helen. I went into the building, and here is Helen chatting away with. She saw someone she hadn’t seen since Kindergarten and recognized her. It takes a while to catch up on 40 or so years. It’s a cruel twist of fate that Helen ended up with Alzheimer’s but maybe, it was a blessing too. Her beloved Joe T passed before her. She was so devoted and dependent on him it probably would have been unbearable for her.
Heaven must be rocking with most of their generation back together. If I know Helen, she is still whipping up a cobbler or some treat for them all.
