A Real Steel Magnolia

   The phone call came at supper on Sunday. We had been expecting it for the last few days. C's beloved Aunt Midge had passed away. We knew this was coming as she had gone into hospice right before Thanksgiving. Cancer, liver failure and a fall had finally taken it's toll.
  Midge was the youngest of the twelve children in C's father's family. She was tall, red haired and known to be lively and free spirited. During World War II, she was living with her family in San Bernardino, California. While living there she sang with her sisters Donna and Lorraine. They sang in three part harmony on the radio similar to the Mcguire sisters. At some point, their mother decided that it was best for all of them to move back to their home in South Carolina.
  Midge was C's favourite aunt. She always dressed well, had a nice car and a nice home. Her daughter, Katie, was C's close friend. They liked to play together. She also had open welcoming arms and food in her fridge. This was important to the motherless boy. She was non judgmental and encouraging. He knew that she loved him no matter what.
  She was also known for making her opinion known. For instance, one time she asked C, "Why the hell did you move up to that Yankee Deep Freeze?!" I loved this story when I first heard it.
 When I first met Aunt Midge I introduced myself as the woman who is keeping her nephew in the Yankee Deep Freeze. Her sister Lorraine, described her as "up front and personal" When I first met her she told C that if he ever tired of me he should send me to her. She said that her oldest son, Chase, needed a good wife. I wasn't quite sure how to take that. I finally decided that it meant that she liked me so much that she wouldn't mind having me for her daughter in law. As C's mother passed away a few years before our marriage, I like to think of her as my honorary mother-in-law. One last story about Aunt Midge. When C and his cousin Katie were about nine or ten they were sitting on the couch in Aunt Midge's house.  She walked by breastfeeding Jack, her youngest child. Katie and C  stared at her in amazement. She looked at both of them and said, "What's the matter aint you ever seen a tit before?" Classic Aunt Midge.
  She was a tough lady. C referred to her as a Steel Magnolia. Her first husband went to jail for awhile. They later divorced. She remarried and was happier, but her second husband passed away. A few years ago her oldest son. Chase died suddenly of a heart attack. She was never quite the same after that. We visited her in her apartment two years ago. She still had a little of her flash yet. She gave me a hat. I don't wear it often, but I treasure it especially now. The last time we saw her she was in a rehab place. She looked tired, but was glad to see us. I was glad we got to see her while she was in relatively good health.
   Now she's on the other side. She's reunited with her parents, her son and all the others that she loves. Tomorrow afternoon her sister Lorraine, now the last one of her generation left alive and her many nieces and nephews will gather to celebrate her life.
   We'll see you again sometime, Aunt Midge. Thank you for all you've done and for all the memories......