Swamped

I don't know if you can read all the writing on this postcard. It says:

"Margaret this is what you ought to be doing, Mamma."

It was sent from Jamestown, NY to Mayville, NY on April 14, 1907. These days that's about a 30 minute drive. 25 miles or so. Margaret was my great aunt. So her mamma was my great grandmother. Margaret would have been 11 years old at the time. Her father had died a few years before. I wonder why her mamma was in Jamestown and she was in Mayville? They lived in Mayville. This card is just a little piece of history I picked up when I was in Washington for my dad's 80th (more on that later). Isn't it interesting how a seemingly innocent piece of paper can bring forth so many questions?  I wonder - was it just a friendly reminder of what she should be doing, or did Aunt Margaret not like to do the wash, and her mamma knew she might need a little nudge to get it done? Was it a private joke of some sort?

I adored my Aunt Margaret. She always had a smile and a treat at the ready. I only remember her with white hair. She told us her hair had been bright red, and she was teased and called "carrot top" in school. I used to marvel at the idea - she had red hair?! It was too hard for me to imagine when I was young. 

Aunt Margaret was so fun. I remember visiting and her taking us to the movies to see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and also Nicholas and Alexandra. I was 12 at the time. She drove so slowly that my cousin and my sister and I would lay down in the back seat of her car, giggling away at all the cars that passed her on the two-lane road. She said,"I know you girls are laughing at me, but I'm not going to drive any faster than this." Then she laughed. She was driving about 25 mph on a 45 mph road. She did not speed up.

One time she came to California with my grandmother for a long visit. One night my sister and I stayed up late listening to a George Carlin record (yes, vinyl). We went to bed and repeated all the jokes and laughed and laughed long into the night. The next morning Aunt Margaret came out with a big smile and said, "My, you girls were having a fun time last night." The poor woman probably only got a couple of hours of sleep. She was always a good sport and fun to have around. 

Well, I started this post by wanting to say that I need someone to send me some post cards to keep me on track. I've been swamped with things to do, and tonight I looked around and thought I need to get some basics done around here. Instead I had a good time reminiscing about Aunt Margaret. 

That's a fair trade. I can always clean next week.