Telling It Like It Is: The Remarkable Life Experiences of My Aunt Edna

My historic biography offers me an opportunity to share an amazing individual with you, my ninety-two-year-old aunt Edna. The best part of writing it was the joy of spending months in intimate contact with her. Believe me, I relished every hour being enlightened while in her extraordinary company. At times, we savored quiet lunches at restaurants; sometimes we sipped tea or Sprite. But most importantly, I spent captivating moments in her company, wrapped in her love, enchanted, as she recounted her philosophies about life, pausing here and there to reflect, and finally dancing her life’s red carpet.

Allow me a minute to get my needle and thread. I’ll be ready to cross-stitch a colorful embroidery of Aunt Edna’s life. Hopefully the result will be a stunningly detailed love quilt on which each stitch is carefully aligned. The completed masterpiece will tell you the story of her life. I’ll do my best to reproduce her portrait without unnecessary alterations and distractions. First and foremost, I’ll attempt to turn the reins over to her and let her tell it like it is. In other words, inasmuch as possible, you’ll get her life’s journey in unbiased, unabridged format straight from the horse’s mouth. She has always been a cultural aficionado with a touch of class when it comes to her social circuit-going to cinemas, operas, and dinners in downtown Washington, DC, more often than I do. Her diminutive physical statue is totally overshadowed by the larger-than-life essence, unabated charm, and integrity that radiate from her. And while she possesses so many positive attributes, she surrounds herself in modesty. Her humility is deeply rooted and sincere. She absolutely refuses to boast, often dismissing her entire life as being ordinary, insisting that she leads an uninteresting life. I’ll contradict her with two words: au contraire!