40: Great Aunt Louise

A week ago today I lost the last of my grandmother's siblings. Aunt Louise was 98 years old. And, just to give you an idea of what a full life she led, in her 80's she went on a church trip which included a visit to the pyramids. In order to get to the pyramids they RODE ON CAMELS! Somewhere in all of this Aunt Louise bruised her ribs, but she continued on her trip, waiting until she was back in Batesville to see the doctor. It must be one of his favorite stories as well, how often do you have to tell an 80 year old woman that she should not be riding camels?
Another sweet story they told at the funeral was the story of how Aunt Louise and Uncle Smith got married. Their original plans were to get married at a later date, but when Uncle Smith suddenly had a free weekend they decided to go ahead and tie the knot. One problem, Uncle Smith did not have the ten dollars required for the marriage license. Aunt Louise cleared that one up quickly ... she loaned him the ten dollars! Wonder if he ever payed her back? As the story goes, nope ;)
Katie has a few memories that Aunt Louise brings to mind ... the first was "she is the one that gave me candy when I was three." Not sure if Katie was really three, but sounds about right. And sometimes when I mention Aunt Louise, Katie says "the one with the different shoes." One time when we were visiting Aunt Louise was indeed wearing one gold shoe and one silver shoe. Such little memories to have, but precious to me that Katie was able to meet her.
Aunt Louise was well loved, and she will be missed.