My father's oldest sister, Aunt Denise came to visit over the weekend and her visit began with a call from the receptionist, "there's a woman speaking another language here for Steve". Aunt Denise is that Aunt, the one as a kid you LOVED because she was like you, as a teen, you were incredibly embarrassed by but as we've kids, we're happy she's around. I've been known to caller her 'Crazy Aunt Denise".
Is she perfect, no, she's flawed like all of us, my Dad is not a fan but my Mom will never say anything bad about her because she was always there for us. As an adult, while here visiting, were there times she drove us crazy? HECK YES but that's part of her charm.
My Aunt Denise has been a teacher for 51 years (she told me this multiple times over the weekend) she's a retired high school French teacher who now helps teach immigrants to speak English. She's always been single and always marched to her own drum and while she embarrasses me, she adores our kids and they love her. There's just something about her, she has this "Dead Poets Society" vibe to her, she's like Mary Poppins meets Mrs. Doubtfire. She's the woman that introduced me to Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Mozart, Van Gogh and Dirty Dancing.
My wife, Kristy is in love with her and she can be a lot but is that a bad thing? She's now 71 and can barely hear, she has a computer from AARP because she wants to keep up with the trends. She's single and has been single her entire life, she actually told me one of my cousins asked if she was a lesbian, she said no but she understands why. She's a pretty amazing woman and while some would say there's something wrong with her I'd argue there's something wrong with us! She's 71 and is still excited to try and see new things, she's always reading and isn't afraid to speak to any and everyone.
What did she want to do this weekend, two things.
1. See Olivia's ballet rehearsal.
2. Watch Isaac play soccer.
That's it, she flew 2 1/2 hours just to see this.
I hope one day I'm as crazy as "Crazy Aunt Denise".
Here are four more pictures from the weekend.
Picture of Isaac with cupcake all over is face at the final soccer game.
Aunt Denise taught French, goes to France at least once a year so we took her to a French restaurant on Saturday evening.
Picture of Olivia that I love. Working on a video that she's the star of and this image made me smile.
Kids spray painted decorative pumpkins, here's the result.