I first met my husband's Aunt Margie in February of 2003, just one year before he and I married. She was a lovely lady of 72, and so full of life and laughter that I loved her from the moment we met.
Over the next year, she and I would talk on a daily basis. As we did so, we discovered we had many things and places we'd been in common - one of the places she mentioned often was "The Duck Inn". Although it had been many years since she had been there, her memories were vivid.
She told me how, as a young mother of three, back in the 50's, her family would meet on Friday nights at the Duck Inn for an evening of dinner and visiting. It was a routine; all her brothers and sisters would come and bring the children and they would stay, enjoy the catfish and let the children visit with their cousins. If they all showed up, there would be close to 20 in total.
As the years past, Aunt Margie and Uncle Floyd moved down to Eustace, Texas and their visits to the Duck Inn sort of stopped. Everyone had scattered out from the Dallas area and the children grew up, got married and moved also.
Then just a year ago, as Aunt Margie began to grow more frail from the liver cancer that now ravaged her, I decided to throw a birthday party in her honor. Although her birthday was several days away from the date I picked, August 14, I knew time was running out. I called all her nieces and nephews, her only living brother and sister and told them of my plan for the surprise birthday party. I had rented a suite at the newly opened Gaylord Texan Hotel and when it came time to select a restaurant, no doubt the Duck Inn was the choice I made.
Margie was told nothing of the plans. I simply told her to pack an overnight bag and be ready when I showed up on Saturday to get her and her sister (my mother-in-law). They were given a booklet I made full of riddles that just made the surprise even greater.
After checking into the hotel and getting them settled, we took off for dinner. Still, Margie knew nothing of where we were going or that her entire family would be there to celebrate her very last birthday.
When we arrived, she lit up when she saw where we had chosen for dinner. She was in total disbelief that I had remembered all the stories she had shared with me of those days back in the 50's and 60's when her family was all together and the children were small. She entered the dining room to even greater surprise - there was 18 of her family members, waiting on our beloved guest of honor.
With kidney failure, now part of her illness, she was barely eating, but that night she cleaned her plate - every last morsel of catfish was gone. She was exuberant that evening and her birthday was a huge success.
Aunt Margie slipped from us just 2 weeks later - but in every conversation I had with her after that evening - she told me how my choice of restaurants could not have pleased her more.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Linda has been writing for a number of years now and writes about true experiences that are near and dear to her heart. Many of her stories are tributes to family members. In addition to writing, Linda is a full time Executive Assistant with two grown daughters and a loving husband that enjoys spending leisure time with her on the lake or on their Harley Davidson. Linda's love for writing stories began when her children were small; she would create tales to entertain them using their names and their friends as the characters. Linda's stories have been published in "Chicken Soup for the Soul", the book and the weekly newspaper syndicate, "Fort Worth Business Press" and several other local newspapers. Linda can be contacted at lghastings@embarqmail.com
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