Christina

When I was going thru the boxes of "rejected slides" I'd kept, I found this slide (on the right) of my Aunt Christina. I have no idea how or when I got it. Or how it got into that slide box. I only know that I'm glad I didn't throw it away by accident.

My Aunt Christina was my father's younger sister. She was 8 years younger than him and when she was around 9, she contracted polio. She lost the use of her legs and some of the use of her arms. But she NEVER let that hold her back and she never used it as an excuse. She was a counselor at the University of La Verne. She was an artist and a writer. I have two of her paintings and a pencil drawing she did of me on a little piece of notepaper. I also have some of her notebooks with her writings in them. And she was the catalyst to get ramps put into the sidewalk in the town I grew up in. She was born on Christmas and when I was growing up, I thought everyone had birthday cake on Christmas. :)

But the thing that I remember most about her is her "Aunt-ness". If you'll notice, in both of these photos, there is a child sitting on her lap or at her feet. In the top photo, I think that's my cousin, Michael (I'll have to ask). In the bottom photo, that's my cousin Tim. I don't know who took the top photo but I took the bottom one when I was around 14 with my little Kodak 110 camera. It was about a year or so before she passed away.

Anyway, all of us kids flocked to her because she was "the fun" aunt. It wasn't just that she played with us, it was that she never treated us like kids. We were people to her and she spent her time with us "being" with us. We read stories, went to the library, on picnics, flew kites at the park, did crafts together (like origami hats). When our parents were too strict, we could cry on her shoulder but she never undermined them. She just listened to us. I don't think any of us ever thought anything about her being in a wheelchair, except that she used to give us rides when we were tired or just for fun. It was part of who she was but not something you were really aware of.

Now that I think about it, I can see that my "Aunt-ness" comes from her. That I want to be the Aunt that really plays with her nieces and nephews. That wants to teach them about life and how weird and wonderous it is. I get that from her and I can't believe I never put it together before.

When she passed away, our family seemed to lose some of it's heart. Christina (we never her called her Aunt or Tia, she was just Christina) was the peace keeper. She was the one who brought us all together. With her smile, her laugh, her love. For a long time, I could still remember her voice. Now if I try, I can almost hear it, just on the edges of my memory. But it's not really there. I miss hearing her sing to the Sound of Music and hearing her laugh. I wish the kids could have known her.