Introducing Aunt Vick by GJ

A while back, I introduced Jean's Aunt Ruth. Today, I thought I'd introduce Aunt Vick, short for Victoria. "Vicky" as we often addressed her, was born about 1875, I'd guess. (I'd look it up, but what we call our family tree is up in the attic in one of the boxes belonging to our grandson who is in New Guineau.) Vicky never married. Vicky also never worked, except for a few years, and that is for another memoir. (One which concerns Uncle Jake.) Vicky was known as a "fuss-budget," and this was often the reason given for her being a "spinster." (Never married.) I was too young when around her to see what fussiness meant. I now wonder if maybe it isn't female for "tinkerer" in men? I guess these terms apply to people (and we all know some) who seemingly spend most of their time doing little, inconsequential things...keeping "busy" doing "nothing." Vicky lived with relatives all of her 90-some years. She was very short, about four feet 10, I think. When young, she had long, flaming red hair. I doubt that she weighed much over 100 pounds. Late in 1944, Vicky's brother, Jake, passed away and she went to live another brother, my Dad, Scott. (I was away in the navy.) Three things happened rather quickly, it seemed to me. First, Dad wrote that he was going to move into Chicago. He wrote that he was tired of commuting after 30 years or so. Second, he informed me that Aunt Vick was going out to live with my brother, Chick, on their little farm. Not long after, he wrote that Aunt Vick was going to live, alone, in the small town of Mount Carroll, IL., about 125 miles west of Chicago. (She chose the town because she knew it from her early days.) Truth be known, Vicky got to be too much for Dad, and too much for Chick and his wife, Leona. Rather soon, she got that way. In all fairness to her, she was in her 70's and some of her traits had simply worsened with age. My story is how she got to be too much for my Dad who was, ordinarily, a pussy cat to get along with. You have to consider that 1944 was WWII and RATIONING! When Vicky came to Dad's, she found a very full pantry because he was then living alone and ration coupons were more than enough for a single person and besides, he ate out a lot. Sugar, in particular was in great supply in Dad's pantry. Whenever he was asked why he even bothered to "stock up" on things, his regular reply was, "Because you never know when somebody will stop in." Two of his four sons and their familes might be who he had in mind. After a few months, Vicky told Dad that they needed to get some sugar. He was stunned. "Sugar? How can we need sugar?" He went to the pantry and saw that all rationed goods were extremely low. "We used it," she said." "Why didn't you replace it?" he asked. "Never thought of it, I guess." Within a couple of weeks or maybe less, my Dad grew very tired of commuting. Several years later, our whole family had occasion to be "entertained" by Vicky. Several of us actually laughed so hard we cried!

Know a "fuss budget?" ever know an Aunt Vick-, or Aunt Ruth-like relative? Why not share her with us, by writing a memoir?