Stories Better Left Untold

 Aging is a strange thing. Memories can be triggered by the oddest things and once prompted you tend to ponder the memory and remember all the details.

One such memory got stuck in my mind as I went about my daily chores this morning. I was making the bed and suddenly thought of a woman I had not thought about in a long time. I don't remember the exact year, but thinking back to how old the children were I have narrowed it down to the early 1980's.

We were attending a Pentacostal church in our search for the perfect fit for our family. Turns out, there is no such thing. Since a church is made of the individual people who meet there every week and not a one is perfect, you will find that there is no perfect fit.

This one was pretty close and most of the people we encountered there are remembered with heartfelt fondness. There are always those in any group (church or otherwise) who tend to feel they have a handle on everything and their way is the "right" way. Above criticism, they feel free to wax eloquent about the faults of those around them.

This particular woman was just such a character. She was somewhat older than me and felt she should tutor me and lead me. Nothing wrong with that, but she wanted her opinion to be my opinion and I was not up for such tutelage.

She was want to avail herself every function of the church ... as long as she could be in charge. She was always well groomed despite her unhealthy weight. Shaped like a cube, her legs had no definition between her calves and ankles. She would joke about her obesity and say whenever she worried about it, she would look in a mirror and proclaim herself to be "cute as a button". It is good to have self esteem, I suppose. 

She would call me daily to complain about someone she found annoying during the service on Sunday. She would chew those folks up, then ask my opinion. Too many times I told her that whatever she was going on about did not particularly bother me. Nowadays I would probably point out some of her shortcomings and ask her how it would make her feel should I decide to complain about her actions.

I was happy when she stopped using my ear as a sounding board. The particular story that popped into my head as I went about my light housework was a story she told at a bible study for women. Appropo of nothing she decided to talk about her mother and her mother's sister. She did not refer to the sister as her aunt and I am sure she must have told us why this was, but it isn't important to the story she related.

Her mother had come to live with her, her husband and one child who was in his early teens. She was unhappy with this situation and not shy about her unhappiness. Seems the sister of the mother was a frequent visitor. 

She seemed unable to control herself and loved to tell tales of woe at the most inappropriate time. On this particular day she decided to relay to the group of women how her mother and her mother's sister participated in odd activities that she did not approve of. One such activity was trimming each other's pubic hair.

I still remember the looks on everyone's face. Not a word was spoken as we all sat there waiting to hear what else was about to spill from her mouth.

The study ended soon after her sharing and we all went our separate ways. I drove home muttering to myself that the sisters seemed to have a unique relationship! Then I wondered how she even knew of their activity .....