I get to my mom's and we sit to talk as we always do and she tells me about a story that I had never heard. Just so you know, my mom is sitting across from me as I write this so she can tell the story again as I type and ask questions to clarify info.
My aunt, her sister 11 years older, never married. That I knew or I thought I knew.
She was engaged when she was very young to the bike shop owner's son, known to be quite handsome. For reasons unknown to this day, my grandmother decided the wedding would not take place and broke my aunt's heart. At that point, WWII took over Japan and life was disrupted. When their home was bombed, they had to regroup and that was when my aunt left.
My mom saw her sister from time to time but not like when they lived together. My aunt was extremely beautiful and never lacked the company of men. She always had boyfriends and when she would meet someone, it was instant adoration and love they felt for her. I guess there was something about her that pulled the men in. She had that special spark about her.
As much as she attracted men to her, in particular, she attracted the married men. They would leave their wives and children to be with her. Some lasted a few years and one in particular lasted over 20 years.
She finally thought she found the one man she would marry but in the end, he died of a heart attack in the middle of having sex with another woman. The police knocked on her door at their home and asked her to come to identify his body at a motel as that woman had taken off without telling anyone. No one ever knew who she was or where she went. That did it for my aunt and she returned home to help my grandmother run the hotel they had at that time.
Because my aunt never lacked the company of men, she met someone while she was home but he was 20 years younger and they started dating seriously. That lasted for some time but she had guys chasing her still and she had her way with them until my grandmother had stroke. At that time, she stopped dating and took care of her mom. That was in my early teens and I had gotten to know her well. She would get up, take care of her mom all day and the hotel and then at night, if I was there, we would talk for a bit then go to sleep to start the process all over the next day.
When my grandmother passed away, she was 52, unmarried and alone. I remember that time vividly. My mother was 41 and I was 14. It was weird to go visit the family home and not see my grandmother. Soon after that, she started to started to date again and since we had moved back to the US the next year, my mom kept in touch sporadically and when she would go back home to visit.
Around 1987, my aunt noticed her thumb would move on its own and when she had tests done, she found out that she had Parkinson's. She continue to live in the same house but life slowed down for her.
My mom went to visit her one day and being that it was the family home, she walked right in, announcing herself loudly to let her sister know she was there. My mom had noticed a bike outside the house but thought it was a delivery boy or someone else. When she got inside an older gentleman was coming out towards the front door to leave. He passed my mom and they exchanged greetings and mom went in.
My aunt's disease had taken a hold of her at this time but she seemed to be happy. She asked my mom if she had seen the bike's shop's son but mom didn't correlate the the older man she passed at the entry to the young guy she knew in her youth. It took a few but she realized they were the same person. My aunt had bumped into him and they became friends again. My aunt never married when that engagement was broken, she found out that he too, never married.
In life, I suppose you live your path and when that path is broken, it can take you down a different road you were meant to live. I think in her case, she was hurt and angry when she was expecting her life to be a certain way that to protect herself she went with men who were safe; the married ones. Remember, this was a time before WWII and arranged marriages and marriages were approved by the parents or it didn't happen.
In the end, she was back with her true love and when she died, she was able to at least know he never married because the right girl was never found after her.
I think they represent that true love does last and can last over a whole lifetime with that one even if you cannot be with them.
It was a great story for me to hear about my favorite aunt and I hope they both are happy together wherever they are now.
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