Glamour Aunt
Of course, one of the two most glamorous grande dammes in the world were my Grandma Francis, and Roxys' Mother, Grandma Esther.
My mother was a very down to earth, loving, caretaking and very ...busy lady as we grew up. A different story. A bad time.
Aunt Roxy became my glamour muse. She gave me my first ever nail set. I remember it....a plastic zippy case, soft plastic triangular shape. Four colors, files, cuticle sticks, and of course, the all important shine coat. Back then it took an hour to dry. And boy, did I use the hell out of those things. That started my love of makeup and nail colors, I never got the hang of looking amazingly "put together", that everyone in my family, from my Grandma Fran, to my mom, to my brother(!), have, but she inspired me to aspire to it. See what I did there.
She was stern, loving, beautiful, and made an amazing intro into a blended family that seemed (from the outside) to work pretty darn quickly. Her babies, Snickers, and baby ruth, little yappy dogs, she loved them to death. She fed (no joke) 20-30 outddoor, feral cats. She didn't just feed them though. She also trap and released them I believe. Trap, snip snip at vet, day in the garage I assume for safety, and out they go. No more babies. She loved animals the way I do. But she loved people just as much.
She was there, when my mom went through the bad times in our family. She played an important part in that confusing, horrifying growing up a girl time that I had. Having 3 gorgeous cousins wasn't great on my self esteem, but she helped.
We've made it through a week. My candle actually burned out on its own this morning. Seven days from one battery assistsed wax candle.
La'chaim