Tia Didi in her hat
I was given the opportunity to be with my aunt who is nearing 90, this weekend. Making 4th of July hats was one activity I had planned. I brought head bands which I had cut out from thick watercolor paper with an extended star from the middle of the band. From working at Preschool, years ago, I had left over July 4th stickers of: “The Liberty Bell,” “I Love America” with a miniature map of the “USA”, “stars and stripes”, a miniature “I Pledge Allegiance,” “American Flag” “American apple pie,” and others. When I asked her if she wanted to make a hat for the grandkids, she replied, “Yes.” With red and blue letters, she spelled out the names of 3 of her grandchildren and made three hats with the letters and stickers. We stapled the hats together and completed our project. One hat had blue bells hung by a yarn string which was stapled to its rim.
As we enjoyed each other’s company, I grew pressed since she was so close to my mom and her native language was Portuguese. My mom had passed away sometime ago. So I drew a picture of the last experience my aunt and I had together. I drew the ocean, her son Mickey on a kite board on the waves, Neve the dog running along the shore trying to catch up with Mickey, she, my husband, Joe, and Mick’s wife, Sue, riding in the car, and I walking along the beach. She remembered. Then I continued to walk with her down Memory Lane with a scrap book album that had pictures of my great niece in it and we went through a preschool book I had handmade.
During the three hours that I was with my aunt, we also attempted to make designs with Christmas ribbon and tried to make a paper quilt but failed, so we took a seat on the bar stools in my cousin’s kitchen, flipped on the tube and took in a wood working show and baseball game.
It’s going to be a wonderful 4th of July.
Arts and Writing by Sherry 