She was the eldest of seven children. Aunt Mary was "delicate". In Ireland it was not uncommon to hear the word delicate used when one was unhealthy.
We moved away from this area when I was eight years old. My parents returned for visits but I did not. My first job was in Dublin and when I had a week's vacation, I took my school friend with me and we visited my Aunt Mary. Mary never married. She was an excellent housekeeper and loved her nieces and nephews which she rarely saw, due to the distance between Galway and Dublin. She was of curious mind, had a marvelous sense of humour with a happy and contented disposition.
I had a new fashionable wardrobe and I discovered Mary loved glamour and was an expert with needle and thread. She inspected each item of our clothing and enjoyed trying on our dresses and high heels. She moaned that it was difficult to get fashionable items where she lived.
Autumn came and I was back working in Dublin and spending my lunch hours window shopping. One day a coat caught my eye. It would be perfect for Aunt Mary. Each week I visited the shop and paid an installment on the coat. In a few months, I had paid for the coat and I hastily ran to the GPO and mailed the coat to Aunt Mary.
She wrote that it was the most beautiful coat she had ever seen and was looking forward to wearing it to Sunday mass and for special occasions.
Aunt Mary died one year later and my uncle returned the coat to me.
I loved that coat even more as it had brought joy to Aunt Mary and gently caressed her delicate figure. I wore it until it became threadbare.
