Aunt Helen Stahl

 Aunt Helen
Aunt Helen was a woman cut from the same cloth as her sister Estella, but not as extreme with her neatness. Helen had six children and for her to be as neat as Estella, she would need to stay awake twenty-four hours each day. Helen was very routine driven. She assigned work to follow a daily pattern. Each day she had a chore to do and a room to clean. Rooms she cleaned were not just a dust and mop, but were like spring cleaning of a room. For example, if she had Monday as her day to wash and dry clothes, she would clean a bedroom too. If she chose Tuesday to iron the wash, she would clean another bedroom. Wednesday could be her shopping day and another room got cleaned. Thursday may have been the bake day and clean the kitchen. Friday another chore and the living room and so on.
She painted each room a bright color; turquoise, coral, and flamingo pink. She got her passion for bright colors from her mom, Anna Kalp Beck. Grandma Beck’s kitchen had deep red linoleum tile floor, royal blue Congoleum half-way up the wall, the top half of the walls was painted a bright yellow, and the hand fashioned wall cupboards were pale mint green. The curtains at the windows were pale lavender. I know that it sounds horrible, but the longer a person sat in her kitchen, the more the mélange grew on the person.
Aunt Helen had the remarkable distinction of having been struck by lightning several times. She was standing on the damp concrete porches of her house. The lightning strikes were close. Electricity came up through the floor, through her bare feet, shocking her making her entire body to tingle.
Helen had a more square face and was shorter than her sister Estella. Estella was thin while Helen had a pudgy little belly. It was funny to watch her sometimes. When you would be talking to her, she would agree with you as you talked, saying, “Yes” frequently. Her response of yes was forceful and clipped which made her belly bounce.
Mom and Dad took her and her family along to Idlewild, an amusement park near Ligonier, Pennsylvania.  Helen no matter where she went was dressed to the nines; high heels, dress, pearls, and her ever present hand bag. We walked and rode everything in the park. Mom called Helen the next day to see how she liked the park. Helen told my mom that she had huge blisters on her feet from the high heeled shoes and walking on the pea-sized gravel that covered the walkways at the park.
Jokingly Mom said, “Well Helen, are you ready to go again today?”
Helen laughed and said, “Yes.” I can just imagine her with the phone to her ear and her pudgy belly bouncing in agreement.