Memorial For My Auntie Jean Williams Cushman (mummy's big sis) 1930-2016

I spilled out of the car with my mom and sisters as my Auntie Jean
and Uncle Frank  came out to the driveway.
Their big white fluffy dog Ricky was barking
and the little beagle puppy Moochie was yapping too.
Uncle Frank was a tall, dark-hard handsome man and
Auntie Jean looked just like my mom only with blond curly hair and glasses.
She was showing my mom something in her arms called, "Elizabeth"
and they were laughing and my sisters were laughing
and the dogs were going crazy.
My Auntie Jean smiled at me and said,
"Go find your cousin Carolyn. She's in the meadow right there."
I walked down the sloping grass into the meadow and
called out, "Care, Care, Care!"  The grass was taller than me but I kept going
and calling although I didn't remember Carolyn.
Then she popped out at me. My exact same size.
She was beautiful. She had light brown hair and bright blue eyes
and I had light blond hair and dark brown eyes.
She smiled and I smiled and we began an
instant cousin friendship which made the next ten summers heaven.
She was a genius. Care could plan a day of endless adventures
with the blink of an eye.
When Elizabeth turned three she came with us.
We called her Boo because of Boo Boo Bear from Yogi Bear cartoons.
Here is a partial list of our adventures on the
top of Cougar Mountain from 1959 to 1969:

1. Climbing trees
2. Catching frogs, snakes, snails and slugs
3. Hiking all over the forest to the abandoned coal mines
4. Riding her horse Ajax and mean pony Jessy
5. Building teepees on the creek
6. Damming the other creek to make a lake
7. Picking and eating endless blackberries, huckleberries and salmon berries
8. Watching an anthill tall as us

My Auntie Jean was a brilliant fun-planner too. I got to take swimming lessons in Lake Sammamish, go along when my cousins took horse riding lessons on Tiger Mountain, and they took me along to Orcas Island. When my aunt bought Care and Boo cowboy boots in 1963, she bought ME some. The thing I remember most about Auntie Jean is that she was always kind to me. She was never mean to me once in my entire life.  She loved how I loved vegetables and constantly said, "Gretchie likes beans, peas, spinach....why don't you try some?"  Care, Boo and Dan ALL hated vegetables.
       In 2006, after my mom died, I was at my Auntie's apartment having lunch and coffee and she said, "When I die, I hope you kids toss my ashes off the back of a ferry boat." She was laughing so I thought she was joking.  But in a few hours, Boo and I will get on the Seattle ferry to Bainbridge Island with our families and do exactly that.