Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Aunt Margaret was everyone's favorite Aunt.
As a boy, my older sister and I would look forward to whenever we would be baby-sat by Aunt Margaret. I can still see her feeding my younger sister Christina in her highchair! Then there was the famous time my sisters and I went for a walk with her in the evening, only to return and find ourselves locked out of the house. Despite all her cajoling, she could not get me or my sister to climb in the window to let us in. She loved to tell that story. After my own Grandparents, we probably visited her apartment in the City of Perth Amboy more than anywhere else, growing up.
With my Dad, we would often collect her old newspapers to be recycled. And we would bring our old clothes and shoes to her apartment stoop, and leave them for her neighbor Mrs. Fizer. Mrs. Fizer would mail our kids clothes to her cousin who was a priest in Wroclaw, Poland, sewing hard-to-get US$ into the clothes to support the Polish people in solidarity behind the Iron Curtain. Mrs. Fizer and my Aunt Margaret made hand-made small giveaways for my First Mass as a priest.
I loved my Aunt Margaret very much, as did all whom she met. For over 15 years she worked as a cleaner in the local Perth Amboy Hospital. She would spend as much time as she could on the Kids' floor, bringing them smiles as she worked. She was a longtime Den Mother to the Cub Scouts, and had a voice that instilled confidence, peace, and great fun.
I visited her a few times in the past years, seeing her last Fall in the nursing home. She was able to recite her prayers and bless herself. I anointed her and gave her the Apostolic Pardon. Know of my prayers! Love, Jonathan
