Who’s your emergency contact? The person whose info you put down on medical forms and applications?
I had to think about this one the other day. Being single, I don’t have an SO who can be reached in a short moment’s notice. My sister, the default for a long time, moved a few states away.
In that moment, it was a reminder that regardless of who my emergency contact is, I have myself always.
I have been lucky not just because of the opportunities in my life, but also for the amazing female role models.
The one woman who is everything I want to be is my Fifth Grandaunt. She is the wife of my mother’s uncle. As young as 5 or 6, I would see Fifth Grandaunt at family gatherings. She was already a grandmother, but to me, she was the perfect woman.
She is the definition of grace, beauty, kindness and most of all, wisdom.
Besides being a supportive wife and caring mother, Fifth Grandaunt was the one that others go for advice. She greets everyone by name and takes time to listen to every little story, even the day of a six-year-old. Even at such a young age, I could see the power of her knowledge and wanted, and still want, to be just like her.
*****
This past December, I saw Fifth Grandaunt at a wedding. She was in her late 80s and still doing well. She walked slower but still spoke to me with that same warmth and assurance as twenty-five years ago.
I cannot wait to grow older, to past 50, so I might realize the possibility of wisdom that defined my Fifth Grandaunt.