Auntie Jean

 Originally Written Between 2013-2015          

Auntie Jean is on her deathbed.  At the age of 94, she had to admit that hanging on was probably not in the cards for her anymore.  Her husband, Harry, had died ten years earlier.  They had no children and so, the only relatives who would survive her were her niece, Joanie, and two nephews.

A little while after Harry had died, Joanie asked Auntie Jean to relocate from her New Rochelle, New York home to where Joanie lived in Atlanta, Georgia so they would be closer to each other and Joanie could take care of her.  Now, Auntie Jean was a very very rich woman.  Uncle Harry owned an oriental rug store on 5^th Avenue in New York City for many years and she inherited everything!  She didn’t really need to live in Joanie’s home.  So, she didn’t.  She bought a luxurious apartment in a fancy neighborhood and hired a live-in nurse and a full-time cook.  Joanie would visit her and take her out to lunch or dinner, movies, and doctor appointments.

The day before Auntie Jean died, she asked Joanie to listen very carefully to her because she had a confession to make.  She told Joanie that she did not grow up in New York as everyone had thought.  She was actually from the South; although she would not name the state.  Her name also was not Jean.  She did not divulge her real name.  Jean was in complete control of what information she would or would not provide.

From what Auntie Jean revealed, Joanie thought that Auntie Jean may have come from West Virginia or Kentucky or somewhere around there since she said that her father was a coal miner and that once she left home, she worked very hard to lose her accent.  

She had four brothers and her parents died when she was twelve or so; therefore, making her the head of the household since she was the only girl.  Because they lived on the mountain and only went to school “now and then,” no one noticed that she quit school.  Remember, this was around the 1920’s and records were not well kept in that neck of the woods.  As Auntie Jean talked, it became quite evident that her brothers were very cruel to her.  Although she never said the word rape, it was certainly implied.

When Auntie Jean was fourteen, she ran away to New York.  Never to return – ever – to her childhood home.  She didn’t reveal how she got to New York.  She never contacted a single relative.  She changed her name (not legally, of course…. she just put on a different persona and a new woman was born.)  

Auntie Jean met and married a man who was 15 years older and already had a house and his own business – although she gave no hint as to what that business was or her husband’s name.  Because of things that were done to her in her past, she was not able to have children.  However, that was okay with Auntie Jean since she did not have a good childhood and had already played the “mother role” when her parents died.  She never said how they died.  

When her marriage ended (on good terms) several years later, Auntie Jean remained in New York.  She had worked very hard on losing her accent, finishing her education, volunteering, and climbing the social ladder.  She kept her married name even though she never saw her first husband ever again.

After meeting and marrying the rich Uncle Harry, Auntie Jean continued the life of a wealthy woman.

While having money, however, may prolong one’s life with the ability to hire the best doctors in the world….. at some time, life must come to an end.  Auntie Jean knew her end was in sight and she wanted someone to finally know the truth.  She never did disclose her real name, her birthplace, and the identities of her parents and siblings because she had blacked out that portion of her life and wanted to make sure her tracks were covered.  

But she had to get this one thing off her chest:  Her Secret?  Auntie Jean admitted to Joanie that while she did have two weddings, she had never divorced her first husband.  And that meant that, yes…. Auntie Jean was a bigamist.  

And, this is a true story.