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Me at Aunt Polly & Uncle Howard's Penthouse apt
mid 70's |
I loved my Aunt Polly and Uncle Howard. I would spend my summers with them in Reno, NV, they would spoil me, teach me proper etiquette, take me golfing (which Aunt Polly would do the old fashion, I walk the course and fast) *Note: she had a charm bracelet from guys she golfed with, Jack Benny, Bob Hope to name a few*, take me to all the upity parties to rub shoulders with the elite (There was a family by the name of Mapes who owned a lot of Reno. The Historical Mapes Hotel was spectacular but was imploded in the early 80's and we would go to parties at their home and ranch) They would buy my schools clothes and send me back home to Nebraska with memories of my childhood embedded in my mind forever.
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Mapes Hotel
1947-1982 |
When I was 3 years old my parents took a trip to Reno to visit them. Uncle Howard was a partner in the club Cal-Neva and one day my Aunt Polly took my parents out to tour down town Reno and gamble at the casino. (Back in the 70's when I would visit I would wonder the streets alone. I am sure they don't these days.) Well back to my story; Uncle Howard got to baby sit me and we took a nap. When I woke up he was looking at me with his sparkling eyes, huge gorgeous smile and asked me...
My little darling if there was anything in this world you wanted, what would it be...
I so contently without hesitation said, YOU! I had his heart from that day.
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Me wearing Aunt Polly's earrings in her penthouse apt
May 1963 |
Uncle Howard had a friend by the name of Ruby and he lived on the same floor they did in the apartment complex of the penthouse. Aunt Polly always had to have security. When she was younger they had their apartment across town broke in to a couple times. Uncle Howard and Ruby would take me down to the Cal-Neva so I could watch the people from the balcony. I love to watch people and imagine how they live. They would take me to shows and my very first one was to see Carol Channing. Uncle Howard bought me my very first grown up gown and pearls to wear. It was a magical night I will never forget.
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| Me and Uncle Howard on our Magical Night |
Aunt Polly would teach me how to cook, how to properly set a table, and most important treat people with love and respect. I can remember I was setting the dinning room table when the news cast came on when President Nixon resigned. Aunt Polly made me practice the piano daily in her gorgeous penthouse, let me swim in the pool that was 1 floor up, and made sure I did my chores. She had a lady come in to help clean by the name of Chocolate Drop. What an awesome lady. She would take me to her house to play with her grandkids and I kept in contact with her for years. She would teach me how to clean Aunt Polly's collection of Czechoslovakian crystal she loved, rake the fringe on the wool rugs that were all over Aunt Polly's apartment, and teach me we were all are equal in God's eyes. I saw her many years later when Uncle Howard passed away in 1985 and she still loved me.
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Aunt Polly, a friend of her's, and Chocolate Drop
1985 |
Aunt Polly was my maternal Grandma Sarah's older sister. She was awesome. She taught me there was a place for everything and everything has its place. When she would come home for family reunions she would hand out $100 dollar bills to the kids. The kids did not know the awesome lady that I knew... kind, gentle, loving. Not many people did. Aunt Polly and I would spend our time talking while we walked briskly (and OMG she could walk fast) by the Truckee River and park. Aunt Polly passed in 1995 at the age of 102 and not how most people would think someone that age would pass away at. She was driving by Las Vegas on the freeway and went off the road. Not long before she passed she was pulled over by a state trouper for going 95 mph. When the trouper asked her why she was in such a hurry... her with her beautiful smile said, " I am trying to catch up with my age" I am sure he laughed and will never forget that. I still chuckle.
The summer's I spent with her and Uncle Howard were amazing and I was the lucky one in the family to spend quality time with her. Something I won't ever forget is when we would go to the grocery store, she was just as frugal as the next person, but when we bought a carton of ice cream; the first thing we did when we brought the groceries in was to take the top off the carton and eat what had melted on the top. Then we would put the groceries away.
Aunt Polly also taught me to always care for my skin (the skin is the largest organ of the body~ it protects us) and that even just the cheapest stuff at the drug store is better than not putting anything on at all. She taught me that inner beauty was just important as what was on the outside. A lesson many people forget. Look deep inside and find the good in all but most important find the good in yourself. I have found through the years that people will try and make you feel so low that your looking up from the gutter and it is not worth it. Look to your past and ask yourself what is my most childhood memory. I have 2 and my time spent in Reno with these wonderful people is 1 of them. Also look towards your future...Someone will come along again and put that sparkle back in your eyes and make you feel whole again. Make you feel loved. Make you see you have a future and the people from your past are what make you stronger.
Thank God I have both...
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| The Truckee River taken from the balcony of Aunt Polly's Balcony |
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