Fruit Inspection

Every year at Christmas time my Aunt Leona comes for a visit. My kids, who watch more Shrek than their mother approves of, call her Aunt Fiona.

Aunt Leona is my grandfather’s sister. As a young girl I enjoyed her so much. Not only was she full of funny stories about my mother’s childhood, but every year for my birthday she gave me a card full of quarters taped inside. One for each year I was celebrating.

Now that I’m older I have her stories memorized. She still loves telling them. They still make me laugh. I have yet to meet anyone full of so much joy and always smiling.

Aunt Leona never married. She lived in an apartment by herself for as long as I can remember, with the exception of a few years she moved in with her sister in Florida. She owned a hair salon in her small Illinois hometown for many, many years and always had the latest gossip, which she still loves to share.

Some of her favorite past-times include golf, spending time with friends, and going to church. When Jeremy asked her how her golf game was, she said “Well, not bad. But I’ve had to cut back to only 4 times a week”. At age 96 she still travels by herself and is very healthy despite bypass surgery in her 80’s.

She attributes her longevity to a health drink which she partakes in each night at 5 o’clock sharp. It consists of Canadian whiskey and water. And apparently, the Canadian part is very important. She has lots more medical advise, most of which would make your doctor cringe.

She also enjoys a bit of gambling. Since Aunt Leona’s birthday is New Year’s Eve, every year we get to celebrate with her. Our favorite thing is to buy her a handful of scratch off tickets to celebrate and listen to her tell us about her winnings from the past year while she scratches away.

Happy Birthday Aunt Leona!!! You are a joy to be around. May you continue to be healthy and happy in 2009!!! We love you!!!