My Aunt Kay used to be glamorous and beautiful. Now, she is still extremely beautiful on the inside, but on the outside, she looks exactly like Eric Clapton. See the photo of Eric Clapton above? She looks exactly like that. Except that she wears dark maroon lipstick. (Also, in case you’ve never noticed, Eric Clapton kind of looks like a skinny Al Gore. Therefore, Aunt Kay also resembles Al Gore. But don’t worry–she’s much “prettier”than Gore.) Oh, she also talks like Al Gore because she’s from Tennessee. So, imagine Eric Clapton talking like Al Gore and wearing dark lipstick and high heels–that’s my Aunt Kay.
Despite her near carbon copy resemblance to Eric Clapton and Al Gore, in the late 1950’s, my Aunt Kay was the most beautiful, glamorous young lady you could possibly imagine. She pretty much looked like a gorgeous human cat with a tight ponytail, slim but curvy figure, and Katie Couric legs balanced on stiletto heels any time she had a good reason to dress up. She was and is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. She also smoked for 20 years and her husband, My Uncle Buddy, never knew it. Or so she claims. Do you think he really knew? I’m not sure. But she had an x-ray with a spot in one of her lungs–don’t worry, it turned out to be nothing–then she stopped smoking. Aunt Kay is gentle and kind, but she has a will of steel. She was very innocent, sweet, and pious–and she still is.
But I’m getting off track. I wanted to tell you the story of how they met because it reminds me soooo much of something my husband would do.
My Uncle Buddy was also a knockout when he was young and isn’t so bad looking these days either, despite a large belly and being sort of elderly…one of those Sean Connery types–age cannot and will not stop his handsomeness. He’s also very smart and very rich–that’s not really important, except it’s kind of cute because he was totally poor when he met Aunt Kay, and so was she.
He was a student studying at a college near the town where she lived. The topic of his interest was bugs. He was studying something about Japanese beetles. There were a lot of Japanese Beetles at my Aunt Eileen’s house. Kay helped Eileen with chores, so she was over there often. (Are you asking yourself how Uncle Buddy became rich by studying Japanese beetles? He didn’t. He became an attorney, in house counsel for a big corporation. I have no idea why he was studying beetles. I should ask.)
Well, Buddy had to set up a contraption that involved lots of wires. The wires didn’t cause an eyesore because they were very difficult to see and about 10 inches off the ground. He got permission from Eileen tostring the wire around her flower garden.
So, one day after work, Aunt Kay went to water the flowers. She didn’t see the wire, of course, as Buddy had cleverly made it difficult to see (as my husband might do). Therefore, Aunt Kay tripped over one of the wires and broke her ankle.
She was extremely angry about this when they met the first time shortly after. But then they started dating. Later, they got married. They were poor because he was a student for a long time. My grandmother sewed Kay’s wedding dress. Kay was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen in my life–well, I wasn’t there of course, but I have seen the photographs. And now, my Uncle Buddy is still very in love with her, and she is still very much in love with him…
