my sister just had a baby and i am considering the type of aunt?/guncle ? (the designation becomes tricky w gender lol) i may be. but ultimately the archetype of “cool aunt”—mysterious, distant-yet-warm, uninvolved in family dramas, arrives at family gatherings wearing strange, somehow stylish clothes, bearing copious gifts and floating on an air of urban life—resonates most soundly with me
this has also led me to reflect on how my mom’s sister played such a key role in my youth by revealing to me a foundational truth that this is not all that there is! ‘twas a very hopeful message to me, a miserable child/teen unsuited to christian suburban life, forced to procure my wardrobe primarily from the women’s section at the department store because that is what my mother deemed reasonable (and kohl’s cash)
some of the notable moments my aunt bestowed upon my adolescence include:
• taking me to see moonrise kingdom at the indie art deco theater in a nearby mountain town
• driving me to philly for shows at tla even though she had no idea who the artists were and would stand in the back; also paying for all my meals and whims on our south street jaunts
• curating a collection of signed books from author visits at her local library, which she’d always drop off nonchalantly as gifts (charles santore picture books, lemony snicket !)
• signing me up for 5ks and carting me along to her races
• explaining to me what a “lesbian” is and taking me to meet said lesbians in a dimly lit new york restaurant where i tried alligator sausage and felt so urbane
• general trips to ny for broadway shows and museums
• introducing me to rummikub
• letting me roam free at community music festivals from late afternoon til dusk, where i’d encounter children from different counties, get in harmless trouble and infuse my life with the intrigue of those unknown to me but in those brief moments
