Since so many of you have been praying for her, and she seems to be out of danger for the time being, I thought it only fitting that I ought to tell you a little more about my Aunt Joan–the last of my family in her generation.
Back in the 1950s and early 1960s, when hardly anybody else was doing it–in fact, you could get famous for doing this, if you wanted to–Joan and her sisters, Gertie and Millie, were world travelers. I mean, they went everywhere! And it was always an event when they came back with stories and a slide show. I’ll never forget the tale of how they wound up stranded at the Black Cat Cafe somewhere in Uganda, way back when, examining the varied and exotic wildlife that had taken up residence in their salad.
Joan, Gertie, and Millie got jobs as young women, fresh out of high school, which they kept for their whole working lives. How common is that anymore? They always had ample summer vacation time–especially Joan and Millie, who worked for school districts–in which to stage their travels.
It’s just too bad they didn’t keep journals. It was a very different world, that they traveled, and they knew it better than just about anybody.