Margaret and Howard

Margaret and Howard
Albany, NY
1955- 2000 ( this is how long I knew them).


They were my great aunt and uncle; Margaret was my grandmother's sister. Both had been married to other people before they met. Divorce and remarriage were unheard of in the 1930's.

• They lived in a tiny house in Albany and lived frugally and had plenty of money. They had just two forks, two knives and two spoons.
• They never had children.
• They always considered my mother to be a little girl.
• They traveled around the world.
• They lived in India for a few years and that seemed to be the highlight of their time together.
• They used to be heavy smokers but gave up smoking at some time in their lives.  But they never put away the big ashtrays on a stand in their living room.
• They loved to play bridge and other card games.
• They always had a cat.
• Howard worked fro a paper company.  So he would bring us a full case fo paper every year.  We never had to buy paper.  I think I could find some of that paper now in my apartment.
• Howard was a gadget guy.
• Margaret was always a beauty.  She practiced yoga for years and stayed flexible up until her death.
• Howard liked to fix our things whenever he came to visit.  My mother would put together a list of tasks for him and he would work a few hours each day and then settle down and have a drink or two.
• They really liked to drink.
• They would come to our house for Thanksgiving Weekend and they would show up with a whole box of liquor: a gallon of wine or port, a fifth of whiskey, tonic waters, club soda and mixers.
• They had Citizen Band (CB) radios. His radio name was Apple Jack and hers was Apple Blossom.
• When Howard was only 5, his father took his brother and went out for a pack of cigarettes.  The two of them never returned. And Howard never heard from them again. Maybe 75 years later, Howard met a child of his brother who said the father never got over the guilt of his awful deed.
• Howard died first. Then my mom died next and Margaret was lost as she felt as if she had no family left.  And two years later, she died.