Happy birthday Aunt Ollie

 

Can you believe this gorgeous woman is 79 years old!?  She was a waitress for over 50 years.  She only retired a year or two ago.  She has more energy than me.  She is the mother of 6 and grandmother of about 25.

 Aunt Ollie is so cute I couldn't decide which picture to use of us, so I did both.  She is so dear to me.  When I was a little girl, only 4 years old, she and Uncle Andy took all five of us kids (age ranging from 4-11) under their wings and into their home to help out my poor mother who was having some major troubles in her life.  They had 5 kids of their own at home, but they took us in.  They decided we all needed to go to Disneyland and so that whole summer of '70 we raised money to achieve that goal.  They had a coffee can set out with a paper glued on it that I think  said Disneyland Fund (or something to that effect).  When anyone came to visit I remember seeing little donations being added to the can.  Aunt Ollie worked as a waitress and put all of her tips in it at the end of the day.  Whenever Aunt Polly and Uncle John came over,  or any of the other aunts and uncles, it wasn't a surprise to see a 50 dollar bill being stuffed into the can.  The anticipation grew as the summer wore on.  Some of us five kids were eventually farmed out to various relatives to ease the burden on my generous aunt and uncle, but the trip to Disneyland did happen at the end of the summer.  I'll never forget the Matterhorn, It's a Small World, my leather coin purse from Knotts Berry Farm, my cousins and the fun we shared.  As a shy little girl from a small town in Oklahoma, that trip was a fairytale, a dream come true, and my wonderfully dedicated and hard working Aunt Ollie and my late Uncle Andy are the ones who made it happen.
Fast forward 9 years and I've earned enough money to make a solo trip out to California.  I stayed for a month, all the while driving my cousins and aunt Ollie bonkers I am sure.  My aunt is such a go getter and one to never let anyone feel left out, she signs me up to be in her kids' swim team.  My family could never afford anything like that, so this was very exciting for me!  My mom taught me how to swim as a very small kid, but not like my practically professional swimming maniac cousins, Hollie, Anna, David and Billie Joe.  They had swim trophies all over the place.  So I trained with them (on the days I didn't mind my hair getting messed up) and had a great time.  I swam in my first swim meet and did horribly on my own.  I think Aunt Ollie must have paid the coach to have me be in the relay that day.  The cousins did the breast, back, and butterfly I was the anchor, for the simple fact that the freestyle stroke was the only one I could do under 25 minutes per lap. My cousins, a.k.a. the fish, were so fast that even having me swim as slow as I did as the anchor were still were able to pull off a victory. 
I have so many more memories of Aunt Ollie's house as a kid growing up, all very near and dear to my heart.  I loved nothing more than being with my cousins, playing from morning til night, laying in bed giggling, trying so hard to pretend we were asleep, hoping we wouldn't get caught, dreaming up what we would do the next day. 
I appreciate Aunt Ollie (and Uncle Andy too) for being there for my mom in her time of desperate need.  That is what good families do for each other.

Aunt Ollie Louise (my sister Tracy's middle name is Louise) , Aunt Arlene (my cute Uncle Wally's wife is 90!), Aunt Polly (my mom always told me I was almost named after her), Aunt JoAnna (my sister Kelly has her name as her middle name)

Here is a picture of my mother and her siblings taken in the fall of '09, celebrating Aunt Jessie's 90th birthday.
pictured left to right: my mom Julia, Aunt Polly, Aunt JoAnna with her hands on Uncle Wally (he passed away just two months ago), Aunt Jessie, Aunt Ollie and Uncle Bill.

Do my aunties know how to have fun, or what?!  They are a hoot and I just love them all to pieces!