Great Aunt Bea

Becky here. As I gazed out the window today past my Christmas tree looking out over the freshly-fallen snow, I remembered some Christmas decorations that we used to put out every year as young kids: some crocheted snowflakes. I remembered hearing a story about a great aunt who made hundreds (?) of them, and each one of them was different. It made me want to know more of the story.

First I called Katie, hoping that there was a blogpost already written about this great aunt. Then I called Dad to see what he could remember.

The crafter was Great-great Aunt Bea (Dora Bedah Henize); Great Grandma Lucy's sister. Aunt Bea could do just about any craft, but she was exceptional at crocheting. She and Uncle Paul had no children of their own and she didn't work outside the home, so she focused much of her energy on her garden. She had a yard that was the envy of the neighborhood with spectacular flowers and impressive vegetables. Dad recalls tomatoes that were the size of grapefruit!

Dad remembers going over to Aunt Bea's house and playing with her amazing antique toys, particularly the brass elephants and the Mickey Mouse Airplane

Aunt Peggy's most vivid memory of visiting Aunt Bea was eating corn on the cob off of Aunt Bea's crystal corn holder dishes. Her dishes were perfect for smothering the cob with butter! Aunt Bea made Barbie doll clothes for all of the nieces and great-nieces. Aunt Peggy's dolls were no exception. When Aunt Bea went walking in her yard with Aunt Peggy, she would often pick a beautiful small bouquet for her.

Aunt Bea also made afghans for her sisters.

After such a talented and beautiful life, Aunt Bea started showing signs of dementia and Alzheimers. At first, it was mild. She started saving the weeds and pulling up flowers. One time she suffered a nasty cold, and when she recovered from the cold she sadly forgot how to walk.

The part of the story that I have loved over the years is that despite not remembering much of her life that she was still able to make something so beautiful and intricate as those snowflakes. She could make several in a day.