Aunt Marg and Aunt Ida

Seeing John at Newport caused me to reflect on my Aunt Marg, his mom. She was a great lady, and a VERY important influence in my life. She was my dad's oldest sister. Our families didn't do very much together. I can only remember one or two boat outings. I think the Oylers had a boat. Marg was such a classy lady. She came in our store a lot to shop. That is how I had the most contact with her. Sometimes I would see her at Grandma and Grandpa Zundel's house. She was a VERY important role model all through my life. She was gracious, generous, and lived a life filled with service to her family and others. She always showed love and concern to her parents. She spent a great deal of time taking care of them. She did not ever get mad at anyone or talk about people in an unkind way. She lost her husband when she was in her middle years. She was strong, and it did not get her down. She died the same week as my Uncle Ben. When we had his graveside service in BC, we went to a dinner afterwards at Maddox that she had planned and paid for. She died before the event happened, but her spirit was there.

We spent a lot more time with my Aunt Ida and Uncle Dee. We did a lot of trips together. They had a swimming pool. They shared the pool with their neighbors. The Smiths had it one day a week. On that day we were ALWAYS invited to come over. She always had trays and trays of doughnuts. She was the most generous person that I ever knew. Then and through the rest of her life. I admired her at a very young age. She was always happy and loved to laugh. When I was older and had some challenges, she stepped into my life again. Still being generous. She not only made a difference in my life financially, but filled me with encouragement. She was a very wise woman. I learned a great deal from her. Her life was filled with unbelievable challenges. She lost Dee at an early age. She was alone for about twenty years or more. She suffered just about any physical ailment that a person could imagine. She was, without a doubt, always cheerful and positive. She made the best of every difficult situation that came her way. Her greatest joy was always in serving others. She spent her entire year planning Christmas for her family. It filled her days with love and service to the ones she loved so dearly.

These ladies were a very important part of my life. I consider myself very blessed to have known them. They were a great example to me. I am so grateful for them. I think my grandchildren are SO blessed to have so many GREAT aunties. You are all so awesome at so many things. There will be times in your children's lives when they might need someone to turn to, and sometimes parents are not the choice. Just remember that all these little kiddies are watching you and everything that you do. Whether you realize it or not, you are influencing their lives.