Auntie Marg

Traveler, Aunt, Mother, Teacher, Great Aunt, Wise Woman

It would have been Auntie Marg’s 104th birthday today. Sadly she passed on at 90 years old. Her legacy is ongoing and I feel that her story is a great start to this new publication, “Preserving Leaves”, where I plan to record and share stories and discoveries from my family tree.

Each of these stories is a work in progress and I hope to add the perspective of others to build a lovely picture for my children and others in the family to treasure in the future.

Auntie Marg was my mother’s maiden aunt. Her life was beset by tragedy, but that’s not what I remember most about her. I remember a kind woman who indulged my imagination and always made me feel loved. When my parents separated, we lived with her for a while in her small flat.

Her small three-bedroom flat was a treasure trove for a small child, full of wonders from far-off lands.

She lived a short walk from the water of Sydney’s North Shore and I loved to walk with her. Sometimes we would visit the small park across the road with its metal slide that would burn in the sun and swings that offered a view of the many trees.

Despite being very young when we lived with her my memories of her flat are vivid. The stairwell was carpeted with a wooden banister and on each landing, there were large windows. I loved the landing just below the one that led to her door because it looked down on a tiny splash of the lush green garden by the back entrance to the building.

I remember standing with my mother at her door. The door was welcoming, perhaps due to my anticipation of the treasures beyond.

When the door opened we were greeted by a small statue of a dog. It was incredibly lifelike and more than once it surprised me as I caught a glimpse of it in my peripheral vision. This dog became a symbol of Auntie Marg’s home.

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