Quilts With Love: sister

I attended a niece's wedding a few months ago and during a family dinner we had to stand and introduce ourselves. I introduced myself as the "Favorite Aunt." Actually I am not the favorite aunt. Let me tell you about the favorite aunt. Next week she would have been 47...instead she left us at 32.

(Pictured with some of her many nieces and nephews. All the little girls in this picture are married now. The one in the lower right corner is expecting a baby of her own soon. The favorite aunt is holding Daughter #2. Daughter #1 is in the front, center.)

She was the most honest person I know. Let me tell you a story about her:

Once we were returning back from a trip to Utah. In our car, we had a box of delicious apples that we had purchased in Utah. We were planning on taking them home with us to California.

In Yermo, CA at the State Agricultural Inspection station, they were stopping cars. I knew there was the possibilty that they would be asking drivers if they had any fruits or vegetables. They didn't always do this...just sometimes. Well, I was saying that we'll just hide our box of apples, put them under some coats in the back seat. If they asked, we would say NO and just drive on. No big deal, right?

My sister was the driver and was getting more and more nervous as we approached the inspection station. So I helped her 'rehearse' our little lie. I acted the part of an agricultural inspector and asked, "Where are you coming from ladies?" My sister would answer, "Utah." I would say, "Do you have any fruits or vegetables with you that you may have purchased from Utah?" And then my sister was to answer, "No sir." Then I'm sure he would just tell us to drive on.

We finally approached the inspection station. Sure enough, the inspector asks, "Where are you coming from ladies?" My sister answered on cue, "Utah." I was thinking this is great. Our little plan was working beautifully! Then the inspector asked "Do you have any fruits or vegetables with you that you may have purchased from Utah?" My sister paused. I'll never forget what she did next. She turns to the back seat and lifts up the coats. Underneath was our big box of apples. She said, "What about apples?"

The inspector confiscated our box of apples and that was that. We never saw them again. (I guess they suspected fruit flies or something...I don't know.) As we drove on, there was silence between us for many miles. After all, what was I going to do? Yell at her for being honest? It taught me a lesson I never forgot.

Above: Here we are at our apartment at BYU with our roommate Carol. We were 'pretending' that we loved washing dishes.

Above: The favorite aunt on her LDS mission in Louisiana. She loved the people there. I read her mission journal recently. She had many wonderful experiences. See, she wore a fedora before Britney Spears!

Above: This picture shows me and my sister in our backyard about 1969. This picture typifies our personalities, I think. I am the one showing off and she is the one watching me.

The favorite aunt left us in 1994 after a two-year battle with cancer. She always loved and cared for her nieces and nephews. Never forgot a birthday. Attended all their blessings and baptisms. She was my best friend and I think about her everyday. I believe things are still much like that picture above. I am still showing off and she is still watching me. Only now she's watching me from heaven.

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A quilt I finished recently...