Happy New Year! and Happy Birthday to my aunt Audrey

After a long winter's nap, I have resumed . . .
I wasn't really napping, just a bad case of TBTB (too busy to blog)

The holidays were wonderful, but time and space (for thinking and writing and blogging) were at a premium . . .

The second semester began at Emerson, making me super-busy there as well.
So 2007 is already packed with activity. I hope it will prove to be as fruitful as 2006--but it would be hard to beat a year that saw the arrival of Leilei, the renewal of my dear friend Gail's health, travel to China, Kit's first year of college, a Dylan concert, and so many other wonderful events and encounters!

Audrey, my beloved aunt, is 93 this birthday. Or possibly 94. Unfortunately, her condition prevents her from keeping me on track, as she always did before--she was very proud of her age, and told me often it was her goal to reach the age of 100. I wonder if she will . . . she is so frail. The saddest thing is the loss of her voice--not the actual act of speech, because she can talk, albeit softly--but the true expression of her character and personality, which was unique and full of fun.

I so much regret my reluctance to listen to her voice as I became a surly teenager, a know-it-all young adult, and a way-too-busy mother. Audrey wanted to share stories of the past with me, and I do have a mental treasury of stories about the farm, her work as a switchboard operator, her experiences as a school principal. But I could have asked so many other things, about my brothers, about my father as a boy, about life in general back then. It would have enriched both our lives.

And why didn't I record some of our conversations???????? I know Audrey would have agreed, because she was interviewed from time to time on topics like the hurricane of 1938. Now it's too late. Me, the queen of second and third chances, has missed my chance.
To console myself, I visit this site, which organizes blogs my date of birth:
http://jenett.org/ageless/1920s/

and listen to stories recorded by the Story Corps:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4516989
Resolved this year: listen more, take notice, record when possible/appropriate!