Sherry Bramlett
My Aunt Ollie left our hometown as a young bride and moved with her husband to Iowa, but she had a way of making the distance not great. They would load up their station wagon and make the trip back to MS, picking up momentos and things to share along the way. This made the big, unknown world outside of my small town seem so intriguing and less scary. I attribute a great deal of my wanderlust spirit to her sharing adventures with me so I could live vicariously through her travels and experiences.
Aunt Ollie also was very instrumental in bridging the generational gap, keeping great grandparents and ancestors memories alive through history gathering and photography. Bing amongst the youngest of the family, I did not have personal memories to rely on, having not known even my grandfather.
She shared hobbies and knowledge of things that were a bit foreign to a little girl growing up in a poor farm town… Stamp collecting, art, photography and technology to name a few.
She wrote letters and sent cards frequently as to not limit the relationship to an annual visit. She tried to make sure that her kids, though older than my sister and I, remained close with us.
Having been a long-distance aunt for almost 20 years, I have modeled these same habits without even realizing it.
I know she was happy to reunite with all of those loved ones that she missed so much and remembered throughout her life, and one day I’ll join them as well, and thanks to her will know them well \ud83d\udc9d