Saturday, December 19, 2009
10:58 AM
Movie Time With Aunt Dean
This is a photo booth pic of me that was taken in Muskogee. My brother and I stayed in Wagoner with our aunt, uncle, and cousins who had just moved there, while our parents spent a week in Florida. I missed my parents like crazy but I actually had a really good time. It was during that week that Aunt Dean took me with her to see Thoroughly Modern Millie. That's quite a haircut I had going there, is it not? lol And a right ear the size of a buick. Oy.
I have an aunt.
Her name is Dean.
She was born on October 31st.
Halloween.
Fitting.
But that is a story for another time. I promise to include it in the movie. It'll be worth your wait. Her head's gonna spin around and everything. Linda Blair's got nothing on Aunt Dean. lol
I have a handful of tender childhood memories that include my Aunt Dean. A very small handful. Amongst my favorites, are the memories I have of being taken to the movies with her. In all of my life, we've only seen two memories together but those two movies really stick out in my mind because they were outings wherein she took only me. She didn't take my brother or my parents, nor did she take her husband or her own children. On those two occasions, just she and I went to the movies for some special aunt/niece bonding time and she treated me like quite the princess. I got to pick whatever I wanted to eat and drink from the concession stand, and got to see an grown-up movie which made me feel very grown-up. It was a blast.
The two movies I saw with my Aunt Dean were Paradise Hawaiian Style and Thoroughly Modern Millie. We saw the Elvis movie in our hometown when I was about 4. We saw TMM in Muskogee when I was about 6. To be honest, I was so young that I really don't remember much about either movie. In fact, for the longest time, I have been thinking that it was Blue Hawaii that we saw together in Mac but based on the release dates, I now know that it had to have been PHS instead. I just remember that it was El*&vis hanging out and singing in Hawaii. As for the TMM, I just remember it being a light-hearted, happy movie. I think I remember music being a part of it but I can't even say that for sure. While I've seen PHS numerous times in my adult life, I've never ever seen TMM again. I guess I need to rectify that at some point just for old time's sake.
Aunt Dean, you have frustrated and angered me more times than I can count over the years. You are a hard, hard woman to love. But deep down, under the hurt feelings I have as a result of the thoughtless and hateful things you have said to all of us over the years, I do love you and I continue to pray that before you leave this earth, you will find Jesus, and surrender your heart not only to Him, but to all of the family members you have always been too wrapped up in your own agenda to appreciate or love well. Whether or not you do, I will always hang onto the few sweet memories I have of growing up as your youngest niece and will wish that we all could rewind and do those years and memories over again, knowing all that we know now, so that maybe next time, we could get it right, and eventually end up back where we are today, with closer ties that truly bind.
We were a great, close family for awhile. How it all came so unraveled, I will never, ever know.
*sidenote: the night that Aunt Dean and I went to see the Elvis movie, my Uncle Marion had a bad car accident. He broke his neck among other things and the fact that he survived was a miracle. My parents left me with Aunt Dean all night that night because they had to go to the hospital with the rest of the Youngsland royal family. I was too young to be allowed on the upper floors of hospitals. I was really upset about that. I was too young to full grasp the seriousness of Uncle Marion's injuries. The only thing I knew was that my comfortable, cozy routine was being uprooted and that made me a very unhappy camper.