Did you have an Aunt Lou in your life?

I was 8 years old when I met Aunt Lou.

We had just moved and she was an neighbor.
(warning-long post for me)

When she found out it was my birthday, she baked a cake.

I think of her often but especially around my birthday.

I can see her in my mind although I don't have a photo of her.

She became a mentor although I didn't realize it for years.

She was an original and could care less what people thought.

She and her hubby ran their own race.

Every time she saw me outside, she invited me to come over and
chat.
I always learned something!
She and her hubby traveled a great deal and she loved to show
her photo's.

I think she knew I was "hard wired" for travel
and loved to visit these magical places with her.

As I grew older, she had me come over before dates so
she could "check out" what I was wearing.

She took an interest in whatever was going on in my life.

When I had an opportunity to become an exchange student
she was one of my biggest champions.
When I came home from Holland and told her I had
met a boy and he would be visiting for the summer,
guess who was outside waiting to meet him when
my family arrived home from the airport?
She was like a fairy God mother to me.

The picture above is a painting that she left me.She taped this bit of information on the back of the painting.

She passed away in 1984.

Aunt Lou inspired me to go for it.

She and her hubby had gone to the Soviet Union
in 1973.
A very different time and not the easiest thing to do back then.

I loved Russian history and drooled over her pictures.
I shared with her that I would love to go.

Being Aunt Lou- she said "you must start saving your money now".
She gave me the incentive and the courage to go for it.
I went to the travel agent in town and did some research.
I made the trip in Feb. 1974.
ALONE. I was 20.

My dad was a little (o.k, he was REALLY) freaked out
but trusted that I could handle myself.

When I got my itinerary, I took it over to
Aunt Lou.

She advised me to hang onto it.
As you can see, I did.
When I look at it now, it is kind of shocking.

I took photo's, a lot of them.
My little camera was cheap but it served me well.

It was so cold but these men sat in the park playing chess.

Women shoveling the snow outside the walls of the Kremlin.

The Spire inside The Peter and Paul Fortress in Leningrad.

You could still see damage from the war outside
Yekaterininsky Palace.

Aunt Lou gave me so much.

Confidence, hope, and the importance of running your own race.

As I turn 56 (screaming in my head), I can still see
her walking towards me with a birthday cake.

Now, that is what I want to be like when I grow up.

THANK YOU AUNT LOU!