Aunt Lallie - What I Remember

She was just a lady we called "Aunt Lallie".

I didn't know who she was or where she fit in, but then again, I couldn't have been more than 8 the last time I saw her (1977?). She was just someone who was always there, in this group of people I was born into. My grandparents, Nell (Owings) and George (Chaney), would take me along while I was in their care, on weekends.

I remember a little ranch style house on quite a large property in Howard County, with a pristine manicured lawn and flower gardens. I think there was a white painted wagon wheel, or a white rail fence, and maybe a birdhouse on a tall pole. These foggy details may be up for debate.

I remember the bee that chased me all around the porch, and I was forced to take refuge inside. Boy, was that ever boring! That's where the old people were quietly gathered to share family news. This was the social network of the time. I later discovered that Grandmom was interviewing Aunt Lallie; mining her for memories to write into her ancestry journals.

It was a quiet house, and I was expected to be quiet, which was pretty difficult, so I was given paper and pencils, and I sat on the floor drawing pictures. I remember being given lemonade and a tin of butter cookies. There always seemed to be lemonade, and a tin of cookies.

That is all I remember. I didn't comprehend who Aunt Lallie was, and where she fit in to this clan until many years later. Many, many years. 

Aunt Lallie, or Alice Mae, was my grandmother's maternal aunt; the sister to my grandmother's mother, Mary Elanor (who was named for her mother Mary Eleanor, called "Lillie").