Aunt Rose and the Squirrel (or better yet, how my journey began)

The old merry-go-round still stands today

Researching family roots seems to be the hot ticket of late, and I don’t mean to brag but I’d like it known that I was ahead of my time in the 80’s when, after taking a look around me at the family gene pool, my curiosity and concern got the best of me.

So I decided to do some searching. In the 80’s there were no home computers with Google search so I was content to sit down to write letters by hand. I sent letters to all kinds of relatives, just asking basically “who are we?”

One response stands out in my memory. And I swear this story I’m about to tell you is true.

From a child's eyes, our Aunt Rose was old. She was actually my mother’s aunt, and with her silver hair pulled back in a bun, she always looked like she walked straight out of an episode of Little House on the Prairie – petticoats, long skirt and all. 

I only saw her once a year at the family reunion but I recall her clearly – she was a novelty. She and “Uncle Red” (so named I’m guessing due to his red face, because his hair was snow white) were regulars each year at the reunion.

The reunions were always a fun event for the dozens of cousins because we could run and scream and get absolutely filthy and nobody cared. We each were given 6 tickets that we could exchange for ice cream, lemonade or a box of cracker jacks. There was power in that ticket. There was also an old wooden merry-go-round that scared me because I always thought I would get stuck under it. But I digress….

With all the crazy activity at the reunion I still found myself fascinated by my colorful relatives…such as Aunt Rose and Uncle Red.

Before I finish my Aunt Rose story – it’s important to mention here that I come from a very musical family. My grandmother Elva Murphy played banjo and was known for carting 7 or 8 of her children, including my mother, around the county to sing at various churches and county fairs. So it’s no surprise at the family reunions there was always a sing-along around the piano.

Back to Aunt Rose….

The sing a-longs at the reunion were pretty much honky-tonk songs about beer and bars and lousy cheating men sung in tremendous loudness with rich harmonies while my uncle Virgil pounded out chords on the piano. That is, until Aunt Rose and Uncle Red would make their way toward the piano. The Murphy clan, without missing a beat, would smoothly move into “Amazing Grace…” it was classic. Still makes me smile to think of it.

Anyway – back to the letter. As I began my search for clues to my heritage I received, much to my delight, a letter in the mail from sweet Aunt Rose. She sent me a 4-page letter – front and back- with all the family gossip written on lined writing paper in carefully penned “old people” handwriting. My cousin Mike still has this letter and although I can’t remember all the content, the one line I recall goes something like this;

“I’m sitting here at the table while Uncle Red is out hunting for another squirrel. The one we have for dinner is awfully scrawny...”

Years later I was almost salivating in anticipation of her response when I read this letter to my teenage daughter. She didn't let me down. She hesitated for a minute – I could see the horror on her face – then she said, “….So these people are blood relatives?”

Thus began the revelation of who I was and from whence I came.