Contents:
I hear arguments in Patois, hijacked games of Taboo, and crackling slams of dominoes on table glass because someone is winning, or bluffing, or both.
Aunts, chosen and by blood, shape us in ways that our mothers and fathers cannot. There is no singular way this works. To some, they are a primary guardian.
To others, they parachute into our lives with profound grace or infamous messiness. These are stories of our aunts: Auntie Lou has a clever and secret gravity. She knows a little more than she says, and she says a lot in a little bit of time, but don't get it twisted: Her voice is dynamic: In another life, at another time, Auntie Lou and her virtuosic, high-pitched squeal-talk contrasted with low bottoming bellows would be honored at a Def Comedy Jam anniversary show, along with her remarkable black-ass wit and stage presence. Like the Sommores, Sheryl Underwoods, and Adele Givenses of the world, my auntie could have you in stitches by her strut alone.
Auntie Lou loves to tell jokes wrapped in biblical parables that always end with positive messages Stay in school! Stand up for yourself! P after the 50 Cent record dropped.
Every time we'd roadtrip to Mississippi from Houston, their home was the first place I'd want to stop. My biological parents are divorced and my father Auntie Lou's brother has never been a steady presence in my life.
Aunties: Thirty-Five Writers Celebrate Their Other Mother [Ingrid Sturgis] on bahana-line.com *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. An aunt is not just another. Aunties has 9 ratings and 2 reviews. An aunt is not just another mother—and aunts defy any sort of archetypal image. Like humanity, they span.
I am my absent father's child: Auntie Lou could have been an interior designer or maybe even a life coach. She knew a thing or three about the ingredients of beauty, about the essence of honest, human aesthetics. One time, I asked her about her tooth gaps I have a few myself and whether she'd ever want to fix them.
Amazon Drive Cloud storage from Amazon. English Choose a language for shopping. To ask other readers questions about Aunties , please sign up. Art direction by Stephane Elbaz. We were alone, mostly, and our house felt empty and foreign, even after our furniture was shipped to us from Colombia. She encouraged me to be outspoken, and dragged me when I was losing myself. The women are from different eras, races, financial backgrounds and locations, but they all had one common thread, the title auntie.
She smiled and said, "1 I'm too old. All that head gear, my teeth would probably fall out! She was the linchpin that kept our summers ice-tea-sweet and smooth. Sometimes that meant holding back what she knew.
Instead, she was dedicated to giving us a haven of lessons and humor. But she holds us down, sometimes without even knowing.
I have a lot of aunts. I also have a lot of cousins and, now that my cousins are all having babies, a lot of second-cousins — a hundred, or four hundred, or four million, something like that. Growing up, the aunts on each side of my family functioned differently.
I have a cousin who tells a story about how one of our aunts — one of our nicer aunts — yelled at her in the street Aunt Nancy! When you had a sleepover with your cousins, their mom was your mom now. A pool party with your cousins, a bunch of moms yelling at you to stop running. I mostly stole these moments with my Aunt Liz, who lives in Queens. She is tough and no-nonsense and I took the fact that she liked me as a compliment. When I was 18, I visited with an obnoxious boyfriend to see a concert, and we crashed at her apartment afterward. My whole life has been a parade of taties.
Through the vivid memories of real relationships, these narratives pay tribute to aunts everywhere. As a young girl growing up, the time I spent with my mom's three sisters was always special: The book is divided into five categories: The stories, essays and poems share detailed relationships and notable experiences of this eclectic group of writers with the women, who in their own way, influenced the life of each author. The women are from different eras, races, financial backgrounds and locations, but they all had one common thread, the title auntie.
Anyone associated with the word aunt should appreciate this wonderful collection, and whether by blood or friendship, being an aunt is an honored role. In this world of blended and extended families many aunts have assumed the role of mother, confidant, and friend.
I share my initial thoughts, this book touched me in a profound way and I sincerely recommend it to others. Reviewed by Simone A.
We will send you an SMS containing a verification code. Please double check your mobile number and click on "Send Verification Code". Profiling a variety of aunts from different cultures, temperaments, and walks of life—the surrogate mother, the wild aunt, the eccentric aunt, the mentor—the essays are written by well-known journalists and authors such as Pearl Cleage and M. Rose, as well as everyday people.
A wonderful celebration of family, Aunties is a labor of the heart and a show of reverence to the women whose intangible gifts of love and respect often pass without recognition. Through the vivid memories of real relationships, these narratives pay tribute to aunts everywhere. Paperback , pages.
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Aunties , please sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Dec 14, Deb added it. May 21, Yanick added it. I wrote an essay about my Aunt Rose. This anthology has an interesting mix of family stories. James rated it it was amazing Nov 12, Sande Boritz Berger rated it it was amazing May 30,