10 Things I Remember About My Aunt Ollie
1. My Great Aunt Ollie was a phenomenal woman.
2. She was known for her big heart that had a soft spot for nurturing children. When a child was in need, her heart and home was always open.
3. She displayed her big heart by unofficially, on two occasions adopted two boys whose parents just decided to abandon their parental duties. She raised these boys and made them part of the family.
4. My great-aunt Olive was a leader. She dedicated her life to being part of the solution to make our small town a better place. As a city council member, she envisioned the town she grew up in as a place that the youth would want to return home to after college. Not only did she dedicate her life to public service but she lead our family. Even as a member by marriage, she led as a matriarch.
5. My Aunt Ollie was the fastest girl in the state of Kentucky, winning a state title in the girl’s 400 meter dash. Her running discipline as a teen was evident with beautiful, shapely legs as an adult.
6. She could throw a party at a moment’s notice. Her pantry was always stocked with delicious goodies. Her fun, social personality could make the simplest gathering around her kitchen entertaining.
7. Ollie could transform her house into a wonderland at Christmas time. Every year, late into the night on Christmas Eve you’d find her entertaining while whipping up magic concoctions that released hypnotizing scents into the air, making even the devil believe he was in heaven. Her living room would be filled to the ceiling with mountains of gifts for her grandchildren and loved ones. A slice of her velvet cake would make you believe.
8. When the angels carried her on to Heaven, mourners filled the church paying their respects. The mayor choked-up delivering his eulogy. Traffic was stopped on the busiest street with the longest procession that town has seen. “Will be missing you” played on the radio during her procession. When she died, all our family traditions died along with her traditions died right along with her. We were left trying to figure out, what will we do at holidays without her?
9. She was my uncle’s Sarah (without the whole infertility ordeal). A mother to more than just her two biological children. A princess. Someone to emulate, respect, and honor.
10. I was loved by her. This world lost her a few days after my high school graduation. She left my uncle a honey-do list which included getting me a luggage set as my graduation gift. When I consider it now, here she is, fighting cancer, being calling home and she’s still thinking about taking care of me. There’s no doubt that I was loved by her. Back then I only had the perspective of a child on the verge of becoming an adult. I wonder the conversations we’d have if she were still around. I wonder what she’d tell me about leadership. It’s amazing how much you learn about a person after they pass.
A Southern Girl’s Guide to Hitch Hikers
On my way home from class from Heidelberg to Stuttgart I was running low on gas and needed an emergency pit stop. While pumping some diesel into my little golf, a young man came up to me with a map asking if I could get him and a friend closer to München (not sure why English speakers call this town Munich). “So, you speak English well, how did you learn,” one asked. I explained I was American which is when they revealed they were Dutch. He and his bud were on a race to Sziget Fest in Budapest and had traveled all the way from Rotterdam, Netherlands to nearly Stuttgart all by the transportation of wonderful strangers. The loser had to buy the winning team “Ali Baba pants.” The other team was way behind them in Cologne, Germany. I was going to just drop them off on the side of the road as they requested when they let on that they were planning on pitching a tent in the woods somewhere.
Well how could I allow that to happen knowing I had two extra beds? I brought them back to my place. Which, as one of my friend’s pointed out, sounds like a classic plot to a certain type of movie, if you know what I mean?
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| These guys made it from Rotterdam to Stuttgart |
I got them set up with internet so they could tell their friends and family that they were alive and well. They started mapping out their plan for the next day. I offered to make pasta (via popping open a pre-made easy bag). All they wanted was bread. Well, I also had ham and sliced sandwich cheese. They raised an eyebrow at my miracle whip. “Sounds interesting” they said. They didn’t use it. I served them on paper plates since my cabinet crushed my real dishes. We had a laugh about Ikea kitchens. Apparently everyone knows someone who’s wall mounted cabinets have fallen before. I pulled out some mandarin oranges, stuffed peppers, granola, different antipasti type foods AND cheese from their homeland that I served on Delft blue cheese board. They were tickled. “Some people think this is all there is to the Netherlands” He said in references to the girl in wooden shoes in front of a windmill painted on my traditional blue pottery. “Windmills and marijuana” he said somewhat disappointed.
I wound up going to bed. They stayed up on the computer before cuddling up in my pink & chocolate brown clad guest bedroom (It makes me smile seeing a guy curled up in my pink blankets). They had planned to leave at dawn but must have needed the sleep. In the morning, the two showered up — it’s refreshing to get a shower in their mode of traveling and they were very grateful. I was grateful that they were very tidy, picking up after their mini meal, making the beds, and cleaning their bathroom mess. I caught them before they slipped out around 0900. They were in the process of leaving me a bottle of wine, which I traded with them so they could give to someone else who helped them. They said they tried to give it to a trucker who helped them most but all the trucker wanted as an energy drink. They left the kindest note which concluded, “American hospitality is the best.” 
It was that note that made me feel like I represented my country and the south well. More than that, I was reminded my favorite scripture Hebrews 13:2 “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” In considering this scripture, I also thought of my late aunt. Maybe this was a verse that she lived by. The gratitude shown by these teenagers because I offered them my surplus of empty beds, leftovers, and a place to wash up humbled me. It’s been almost a decade since that June day we put Ollie in the grave but I know, that if everyone she touched is being hospitable towad strangers, that she still lives through them. What a wonderful inheritance she left the world in her 54 years. She is one of my real life examples of a true representation of a Southern Belle.
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| And they’re on their way! Good Luck guys! |
We waved good bye, and I wish them luck on their way. I’ll say a special prayer for them tonight that the good Lord keeps them safe and they continue to come across amazing strangers and learn that this world is a wonderful place. I understand the dangers of opening my home to strangers. My mom made sure I understood and praise God I’m still alive to speak of this adventure. People tell me all the time that I’m too kind and people will take advantage of my hospitality. And at times it has been true. But people do not get attacked because they are kind; they get attacked because someone with a sick, wicked mind intentionally set out to hurt them. We can’t afford to live our lives with so much fear in our hearts that we cannot be a saving grace to our fellow humans.
