Aunt Harriet

It seems as everyone has wanted something from me this week and I have been unable to take the time to sit down and reflect on my past and future  Finally the phone has stopped ringing, people have left work sick, and I am left in a quiet office with some time on my hands.  I am thinking about Aunt Harriet.

My aunt, one of 4 children and my dad's sister is now the only one left in her generation.  She is the daughter of a Danish immigrant, my grandfather and has been a significant influence in my life.  I am proud to be her niece and am happy that she was a part of where I have been and she did a lot to shape me in making me the person I am today.  She is days away from being 101 years old and the history that she has seen in her lifetime is profound.  Along with her brothers and her dad, they started a very successful hand tool business that made me think I could do the same.

My aunt worked very hard and working in the family business was a huge part of her life.  She was a working woman when it wasn't the "thing to do". My mom was too, so my female role models were that of working women.  The thing about my aunt as well as the rest of the family she was born into is they cared so much about the people they shared their lives with.  That meant family, employees, and anyone else who relied on the little town we were raised in.  She maintained a great philanthropic nature through her life which was modeled to her by her parents and is carried on by many of us in the generation that followed her.

Aunt Harriet is smart.  She admits that this new century is not hers.  I know that it has been hard for her to keep up with all the changes; technologically, philosophically, and politically.  Today we live in a world that has grown beyond her.  But in the end what is important is not what she did with her life, but the kind of person she is.  She is a smart, kind, caring, hard working, God fearing, woman who has given far more than she has ever received.  She has counted every person she has known as a blessing and understands too, just how much she was blessed. Because of that attitude, I am a better person.  I wish my aunt the very best of birthdays and am happy that I am kind of like her.  Because she was a woman and because my dad was ....  well...my dad, I learned that women are capable of doing anything they set their minds to.  That indeed, has served me well.