I first met my husband's Aunt Margie in February of 2003,
just one year before he and I married. She was a lovely lady of 72, and so full
of life and laughter that I loved her from the moment we met.
Over the next year, she and I would talk on a daily basis. As
we did so, we discovered we had many
things and places we'd been in common - one of the places she mentioned often
was "The Duck Inn." Although it
had been many years since she had been there, her memories were vivid.
She told me how, as a young mother of three, back in the
50's, her family would meet on Friday nights at the Duck Inn for an evening of
dinner and visiting. It was a routine; all her brothers and sisters would come
and bring the children, and they would
stay, enjoy the catfish and let the children visit with their cousins. If they
all showed up, there would be close to 20 in total.
As the years past, Aunt Margie and Uncle Floyd moved down to
Eustace, Texas and their visits to the Duck Inn sort of stopped. Everyone had
scattered out from the Dallas area, and
the children grew up, got married and moved also.
Then just a year ago, as Aunt Margie began to grow frailer
from the liver cancer that now ravaged her, I decided to throw a birthday party
in her honor. Although her birthday was several days away from the date I
picked, August 14, I knew time was running out. I called all her nieces and
nephews, her only living brother and sister and told them of my plan for the
surprise birthday party. I had rented a suite at the newly opened Gaylord Texan
Hotel and when it came time to select a restaurant, no doubt the Duck Inn was
the choice I made.
Margie was told nothing of the plans. I simply told her to pack an overnight bag and be
ready when I showed up on Saturday to get her and her sister (my
mother-in-law). They were given a booklet I made full of riddles that just made
the surprise even greater.
After checking into the hotel and getting them settled, we
took off for dinner. Still, Margie knew nothing of where we were going or that
her entire family would be there to celebrate her very last birthday.
When we arrived, she lit up when she saw where we had chosen
for dinner. She was in total disbelief that I had remembered all the stories
she had shared with me of those days back in the 50's and 60's when her family
was all together, and the children were
small.
She entered the dining room to even greater surprise - there were 18 of her family members, waiting for our beloved
guest of honor.
With kidney failure, now part of her illness, she was barely
eating, but that night she cleaned her plate - every last morsel of
catfish was gone. She was exuberant that evening and her birthday was a huge
success.
Aunt Margie slipped from us just 2 weeks later - but in every
conversation I had with her after that evening
- she told me how my choice of restaurants could not have pleased her more.
By Linda Stallings
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Linda has been writing for a
number of years now and writes about true
experiences that are near and dear to her heart. Many of her stories are
tributes to family members. In addition to writing, Linda is a full time Executive Assistant with two grown
daughters and a loving husband that enjoys spending leisure time with her on
the lake or on their Harley Davidson. Linda's love for writing stories began
when her children were small; she would create tales to entertain them using
their names and their friends as the characters. Linda's stories have been
published in "Chicken Soup for the Soul",
the book and the weekly newspaper syndicate, "Fort Worth Business
Press" and several other local newspapers. Linda can be contacted at
lghastings@embarqmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment