My Aunt Joan

*NOTE: (Her name is actually pronounced Jo-anne) My Aunt Joan, with dark sparkling eyes, was my FUN aunt! The baby girl of her family (my mother was the eldest), Joan and her husband Clifford lived in a small town 25 miles away. I loved going there, especially being dropped off for a week in summer! Aunt Joan’s husband Cliff was a teaser; I loved to see him playing with Joan as they acted like flirty teens. This I never saw between my own mother and my stepdad. Joan would pile me and my sisters into her car and take us to the grocery store for barbecue items and goodies - the kinds of foods my mom would rarely buy for us. Kraft macaroni and cheese she would fix for us– my favorite. At night we horsed around, ate popcorn and saw movies. I recall we even had a pillow fight one night! Joan’s young son Chris played catch with me, and Uncle Cliff, an amateur league baseball player, took us to see pro games. Aunt Joan’s family moved out of state, so I hadn’t seen her - not even at family reunions - since I left home too, nearly 50 years ago! She’d got very sick after Cliff died, and she passed away this last May. I pray she is reunited with dear Cliff. God bless my lovely Aunt Joan. June 30, 2020 for Regina Riddle's In Loving Memory Poetry Contest IN LOVING MEMORY of JOAN (Owens) Wolford 11/3/1939 to 5/13/2020