Monday, May 27, 2024
Ahhhh ... memories ......
We all have them,
Years pass by,
Age creeps up on us,
Bang....
Then one day we are asked to recall those "wonderful" moments in time, those truly “amazing" souls that helped shape our childhood and our world along a lifetime of journeys, truly a gift.
Our memory from the mind of a small child to the pen of an adult.
My sister Wendy and I spoke about our fondest memories of Aunt Gladys. Since we both recalled the same memories we have decided to combine our thoughts. We hope that we can add a bit more to the magic and mystery of a very amazing lady, our Great Aunt Glad - Ass or "Happy Tushy" as we fondly refer to her.
We remember the Catskills,
That old house on the hill with the very neat grave yard up the street.
We both loved to go there. Although we didn't get to visit quite as often as we would have liked to. We think that's because our Aunt Gladys was not the best housekeeper when it came to CAT HAIRS! Our Dad Barry loved Gladys to pieces, but he hated the cats walking on the kitchen counters to get to their food bowls. I guess he had a hard time understanding cat and dog dynamics!
There was always a bit of mystery in that house. A type of "non conformity" anything goes attitude, we felt free to be ourselves. Memories of the living room, the walls lined with musical instruments, they opened up a whole world of new sights and sounds for us both. Our passageway to the enjoyment of the performing arts. Wendy has since shared that love of the arts with her own children. They play piano, drums and violin. They dance competitively with a spirit that would make Aunt Gladys proud. For this they thank you. There were lots of treasures to be found in Aunt Gladys’ musty basement. We both have fond memories of spending countless hours down in that basement. The very steep stairway dimly lit. The old wooden wardrobe filled with musty clothing and accessories from many trips to different countries. At least we thought she traveled a lot, she had the goods to prove it! God only knows what two Jersey girls found so amusing in that basement! We would put on the clothes, vests, belts, beads and hats. As dirty as they were, that never mattered, nor stopped us from being transformed into different characters. We would go upstairs and parade around for Aunt Gladys to see the treasures that we had found.
The best part for us was after all the playing and dressing up, Aunt Gladys would always give away some of those treasures. We are positive that our parents cringed each time we came from that basement. Especially the time we came up with an old cardboard bust, hence my love for mannequins was born! I held onto that bust for years and years. It was like gold to me even with the mildew stains, it was the best thing around, I showed it to everyone. I even remember bringing it to school for show and tell. Can you even begin to imagine what was living inside this thing!? Generations upon generations of dust mites….what if it were to accidentally crack open?
It finally did drown in a flood in our basement. We are sure our parents celebrated on that day!
I have another personal memory as well.....
Aunt Gladys sang at my wedding September 14th, 1997.
We picked a show tune from Phantom of the Opera.
She was honored that we asked her to sing.
Although she may have only had one hour to actually rehearse with the pianist, she did deliver what I recall as a wonderful, slightly out of tune delivery of "All I Ask of You”.
Cheri and Wendy Yuzik
Liberty, NY 845-292-7160
Woodbourne, NY 845-434-7363
Livingston Manor, NY 845-439-4333