He proposed the night they met?
Remembering my Aunt and Father
One evening in the mid-late 1930’s, a soft-spoken young woman, Violet Jones, went on a blind date arranged by her brother. That night, her date Harry Kaelin, an outgoing angler and friend to many of the NY Yankees, proposed. As the story goes, Violet told him he was crazy. The next day, he sent her a huge bouquet of flowers – addressed not to Miss Violet Jones, but to Mrs. Harry Kaelin. They were married two weeks later.
One evening in the mid-late 1930’s, a soft-spoken young woman, Violet Jones, went on a blind date arranged by her brother. That night, her date Harry Kaelin, an outgoing angler and friend to many of the NY Yankees, proposed. As the story goes, Violet told him he was crazy. The next day, he sent her a huge bouquet of flowers – addressed not to Miss Violet Jones, but to Mrs. Harry Kaelin. They were married two weeks later.
Violet and
Harry had two biological children. He (my Father) was the most talented artist I
have known, and she (my Aunt) was the most forgiving. They spent their younger years dancing, water-skiing in the Long Island sound, driving to lower
Manhattan to join the Beats, and illegally night-riding the golf carts at the
country club. As adults, they brought their families together practically every
week, graduating to adult hi-jinks, enjoying the swimming pool, a Thanksgiving
feast, or just to “drop by.”
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| My Father and Aunt |
Insatiable
readers, they usually finished at least one book a week. They helped others
when they had the means. They were liberal & smart, had wicked senses of
humor, and similar thoughts about the afterlife. With my aunt’s passing this
week, I happily imagine the four of them reunited after 46 years, making wise
cracks, and reminiscing as if no time had passed at all.
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