October 13, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. Aunt Eleanor.

I know few people who have lived to be 100, but Aiunt Eleanor did. She is the aunt of friend Walt MacDonald , who lives in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. Aunt Eleanor lived in Hunts Point. Every summer for the past 21 years we would see Eleanor and her husband on special occasions at a dinner party at the MacDonald's home. They were a lovely couple and I enjoyed their company. In the early years, what impressed me the most was Aunt Eleanor's memory. When we arrived, she would make sure of your name. During dinner, she would call you by name and when we left, she would again repeat your name. At that time she was 80. I did not see her this summer but two years ago she could remember my name when we saw her for dinner. She had taught school all her adult life, mostly in Montreal. But after her husband retired from his financial job, they moved back to their place in Nova Scotia. After her husband died ten years ago, she lived by herself and did fine. Mary often took dinner down to her even thouigh Eleanor urged her not to bother. But when Walt arrived with the food, she could not wait to eat Mary's food. This year, after she turned 100, she got sick and was in the hospital. Her only son John decided that living by herself was dangerous so she moved into a Nursing home, where she lived two days. The morning of the third day she ate her breakfast. The attendant came to check on her and she seeme fine. In fact she asked for a second breakfast. By the time the attendant had returned with breakfast number two, Aunt Eleanor had died. And that was the thing I liked best about Aunt Eleanor. She was always looking forward to what was coming next, which she felt sure would be wonderfu. So Aunt Eleanor, RIP.