Merrie Sunshine

  I promised myself I would put this in every time I posted to this journal.  This posting will be a testament to my Aunt Merrie, who died of breast cancer.

Going out to visit Aunt Merrie was the highlight of my young life. A trip from Pasadena to Tarzana without the present freeways. My mom always knew the way, although it seemed we would "get lost" on our way home.  Sometimes past Liberace's home with a piano-shaped pool.  However, I digress.

My Aunt Merrie had two sons, both a little older than myself.  Her home was like a long ranch house with a breezeway inbetween the house and the garage.  It had a circular driveway. Oh! I loved that driveway. Even today I sometimes think about her magical house. 

Entering the front door, the first thin I saw was a Christmas tree hanging upside-down from the ceiling.  She had put it there one year when she and her oh-so-busy friends decided to have Christmas in July.  It seems common then, but back in the 50's it was an odd idea.  She never took the tree down.  It hung there at least until she and my Uncle Birch were divorced when I was a teen.

At the back of the home was her shop.  She sold novelty items there.  Not just any items, the best ones.  I would wander through the shop fascinated, until Aunt Merry called us to lunch.  Over lunch she would regale us with her tales of visitors to the shop.  Some, like the Andrews Sisters, came regularly and she would get all the gossip she could stand. It was wonderful to hear her talk of all the good times.  Eventually, she moved the shop into town somewhere.  Still the same great stuff.  One day while there, I looked up to see a very tall man.  I loved him!  It was Dennis Weaver who played "Chester" on Gunsmoke.  He signed his autograph for me andleaned down to give me a kiss on the cheek.  I vowed never to wash my cheek again.

When I was 20 years old, Aunt Merrie was diagnosed with breast cancer.  When she was told how serious it was, she exclaimed "NO!"  She had a double radical mastectomy and I guess some radiation.  She fought that cancer with all her physical might.  She gave up her shop, but not her activites.  She married a TV producer.  She called him "Mr. Wonderful"  They lovced each other with an intensity I had never seen before.

Aunt Merrie was named Mary at birth, but she was the happiest, sunniest baby my grandparents had ever seen.  They legally chaged her name to Merrie Sunshine.  I always thought that was so cool.  She never lost that personality.  Everybody loved her and treasured their time with her as did I.

When I was 25, Aunt Merrie had to go back into the hospital. Her cancer had come back, this time with a deadly diagnosis. She was most loved in the hospital.  She had her husband bring her shoots from this plant or that and she would get them going and present them to hospital personel.  She was also knitting and gifted them with her handiwork.  It was amazing how her attitude stayed so good when the suffering was so intense. 

Then one day she left to be with the Lord.  It was in November of that year.  I wasn't a little girl anymore, but I cried for missing her.  My mother, grandmother and sisters and I were there for both the formal sevices and the at-home services.  I will never forget the litany of people who came and spoke at the formal service.  It seemed it would never stop. 

Aunt Merrie's memory still lingers in my heart and sometimes I get misty as I am now when I think of her.

I love you my Aunt Merrie Sunshine!