 |
My great aunt Barbara passed away at the age of 102 a few years back, and she left me a bit of cash. I knew that this gift could soon be engulfed by house remodel projects or day to day needs, so I decided that I’d spend it on something special that would remind me of her and that she’d really appreciate if she were around. A boat seemed the perfect fit, and the roots of the trip up the Inside Passage took hold. Barb was an athletic coach all her life, working at residential womens’ colleges, first at Harpers Ferry NY and for many years in Boston. Her pictures of the Hudson River were from an era before bridges and highways, and before the age of the automobile. I was always amazed at the way she accepted change, having seen so much. I asked her if she remembered the Russian revolution,she recalled seeing the pictures of the royal family after they were assassinated. |
She never held onto the past for all that, she always kept up with styles and cars, and was ready to adapt to whatever life threw at her. She spent a lot of time coaching field hockey and other track events, but I think all athletic adventures interested her. Her sister Gertrude was an Olympic swimming coach, and I think between the two they covered a lot of ground in women’s sports. Once she told me a story about a trip she took with her companion, Marion, across the country from Chicago to Denver and up Pikes Peak. She said that during that trip the two women wore bloomers instead of floor length skirts, and they were quite a scandal. It took them several weeks to make the trip over corduroy road, and finally when they made it to the mountains west of Denver, they had to get out and push the car since it didn’t have enough horse power to make it up the hills on its own. Marion and Barbara lived together after that for 35 years, and they owned a summer cottage in Vermont together, which was a joyful little summer place where they would relax in their t-shirts and jeans, and visit with |
|
