My Aunt Kathryn
My Aunt Kay was one of the most popular people around ... everyone loved Kay Burton. Her neighbors, her co-workers, her family. And she kept friends for very long time. She and her friend Edna had gone to grade school together and were still best friends nearly sixty yeras later.
I think the reason everyone loved Kay was because she was probably the most fun and generous ladies in the world. Wherever she was, she was going to be having a good time, whether it was bowling or gardening, shopping or just chatting on the phone.
One time in particular that stands out in my memories is when she went with Mom, Linda, Frankie and me to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We all loved going to the Smokey Mountains, but that trip was the best one ever. Kay stayed in the room with Mom, Linda and me -- and when we checked in at the LaConte View Motel, she unpacked more snacks and food than I'd ever seen. Our dresser top in the room looked like a mini-market!
Linda, Gary and I all three worked with Kay at one time or another at the United Methodist Service Center. And that's where we learned that family-loyalty was one of her strong suits! She would tell anyone off in a heartbeat if they didn't treat us right or if anything was said to upset us. I remember one time just a few yeras ago when I went to the Arlington Town Hall to vote on election day. One of the women working at the polls said she knew Linda and Frankie, and that I wasn't anything like them. She said I must be the "blacksheep of the famiy". I mentioned it to Kay, who got right on the telephone with the Board of Elections and reported the woman!
After I got married, Steve and I lived the first six years of our marriage in Frankie's old house on Olden Avenue, so we were living right across the street from Kay. That was especially nice for me because Steve worked the late night shift until 2:00 a.m. Knowing I was alone and afraid to be there at night by myself, Kay would often call and ask me to come over and watch "Designing Women" with her, or play cards, eat snacks and sit up to watch "The Rush Limbaugh Show" with her. By the time that show went off, Steve was usually pulling into our driveway. We shared a lot of fun and long talks during those late nights, and it meant a lot to me. Also, Steve and I had a once-a-month card party at her house, which we both really enjoyed.
But the thing I'll probably most remember about Kay is her love for her grandchildren. She would talk to anyone who would listen (family, friends, complete strangers!) about her "six little grandsons". Byron, Bishop, Zach, Kenny, Brad and B.D. -- they were the joys of her life.
It still doesn't seem possible that Kay is gone. We all miss her so much. In many ways, a big part of the fun in our lives went with her, because Kay was such a big part of our lives. But I feel that as long as I'm around, something of Kay will always be here,too. She herself always said that I was so much like her, that she was actually my mother, but that she had given me to Lucille to raise. Linda says that I even have her hands, that mine are shaped like and look like hers. And the older I get, the more people come up to me all the time and say, "You're the image of your Aunt Kay!" I hope that when my life is over, I can look back and say that I was as loved as she was, too.
