My day; or, I have a tuxedo!
Mar. 19th, 2003 09:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xiphiasMy mom and both grandmothers went down to Florida to visit my sister at college, and they came back up with her in tow (she came in yesterday and will leave tomorrow morning), and today, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cheshyre and I met Mom and Leila at my Auntie Debbie's house.
My Auntie Debbie is actually my great-aunt Debbie, my mother's aunt. She was married to Melvin Ludwig, my mother's mother's brother. Uncle Mel died, must be ten years ago now, if not longer. Frankly, the two of them were so close that many of us didn't expect her to outlast him long.
But she saw no particular reason to die then, and was still having too much fun being alive. Now, she's getting tired. She's ninety now, just had her ninetieth birthday a couple days ago. She's noticing that much of her body's just sorta at the end of its design lifespan, and she hurts. She still has no particular reason to die, but she's really rather excited to see what's next. She's been most places on this planet, and is looking forward to whatever comes.
Anyway, at Debbie's birthday party this past weekend, she looked at me and said, "You know, Ian, you're about Mel's size. I've still got some of his clothes around -- would you like to try them on and see if you can take them?"
So, when we went over there, I tried them on.
They fit like they were tailored for me. Oh, maybe I should lose about five pounds around the gut to make 'em fit perfectly, but they already fit better than most of my clothes.
I've got a tuxedo now. It's . . . nifty. And weird. Mel bought it in the Sixties, and it shows. It's got purple in it. I really like it.
But, see, that pales beside the other thing I got. I got his cashmire coat. With black mink trim.
Let me just say that again. I have a cashmire coat with black mink trim.
Okay, the level of "I never expected to wear a dead animal on my coat" is high. Yet the level of "boy this coat is just so COOL" is quite a bit higher.
My Uncle Mel was something of a clotheshorse. There's a photo on her fridge of Mel, in the 1920s, looking great. I mean, the long coat and fedora are just snappy, but it's the gloves, handkerchief, pipe, and spats that just make the outfit. Spats. My Uncle Mel could wear spats. And make them look GOOD.
And I get his clothes!
Auntie Debbie was so happy to see that these clothes would be worn and used, and not just be wasted. I just hope I can pull it off. I mean, think about this. Uncle Mel could wear a tuxedo with PURPLE in it, and look great. And I've now got the tux. I've got the clothes, I need the attitude.
We looked through some of Debbie's photo albums, and were looking at some of their photos from cruises. When they had a chance to go on cruises, they did their best to go on the gay cruises, because they just felt that gay men were so much more fun than most of the people who go on cruises.
We saw the photo of them at an "Isadora Duncan" party -- the theme was Roaring Twenties. I think it's amusing that they were the only people at the party who had been AROUND during the roaring twenties -- it's basically my great-aunt and uncle at a party with a bunch of twenty- and thirty-something gay men in the Sixties. She was wearing a flapper dress that she'd made herself. She mentioned that the host loved the dress so much that she eventually gave it to him, and he looked FABULOUS in it.
Have I mentioned how much I just plain LIKE my relatives? I mean, of course I love them -- that comes from being family, and normally is only lost through serious bad actions on someone's part. And of course I respect them -- that comes from how I was raised and trained.
But I also just plain like them, and that's just a gift.
cheshyre and I met Mom and Leila at my Auntie Debbie's house.My Auntie Debbie is actually my great-aunt Debbie, my mother's aunt. She was married to Melvin Ludwig, my mother's mother's brother. Uncle Mel died, must be ten years ago now, if not longer. Frankly, the two of them were so close that many of us didn't expect her to outlast him long.
But she saw no particular reason to die then, and was still having too much fun being alive. Now, she's getting tired. She's ninety now, just had her ninetieth birthday a couple days ago. She's noticing that much of her body's just sorta at the end of its design lifespan, and she hurts. She still has no particular reason to die, but she's really rather excited to see what's next. She's been most places on this planet, and is looking forward to whatever comes.
Anyway, at Debbie's birthday party this past weekend, she looked at me and said, "You know, Ian, you're about Mel's size. I've still got some of his clothes around -- would you like to try them on and see if you can take them?"
So, when we went over there, I tried them on.
They fit like they were tailored for me. Oh, maybe I should lose about five pounds around the gut to make 'em fit perfectly, but they already fit better than most of my clothes.
I've got a tuxedo now. It's . . . nifty. And weird. Mel bought it in the Sixties, and it shows. It's got purple in it. I really like it.
But, see, that pales beside the other thing I got. I got his cashmire coat. With black mink trim.
Let me just say that again. I have a cashmire coat with black mink trim.
Okay, the level of "I never expected to wear a dead animal on my coat" is high. Yet the level of "boy this coat is just so COOL" is quite a bit higher.
My Uncle Mel was something of a clotheshorse. There's a photo on her fridge of Mel, in the 1920s, looking great. I mean, the long coat and fedora are just snappy, but it's the gloves, handkerchief, pipe, and spats that just make the outfit. Spats. My Uncle Mel could wear spats. And make them look GOOD.
And I get his clothes!
Auntie Debbie was so happy to see that these clothes would be worn and used, and not just be wasted. I just hope I can pull it off. I mean, think about this. Uncle Mel could wear a tuxedo with PURPLE in it, and look great. And I've now got the tux. I've got the clothes, I need the attitude.
We looked through some of Debbie's photo albums, and were looking at some of their photos from cruises. When they had a chance to go on cruises, they did their best to go on the gay cruises, because they just felt that gay men were so much more fun than most of the people who go on cruises.
We saw the photo of them at an "Isadora Duncan" party -- the theme was Roaring Twenties. I think it's amusing that they were the only people at the party who had been AROUND during the roaring twenties -- it's basically my great-aunt and uncle at a party with a bunch of twenty- and thirty-something gay men in the Sixties. She was wearing a flapper dress that she'd made herself. She mentioned that the host loved the dress so much that she eventually gave it to him, and he looked FABULOUS in it.
Have I mentioned how much I just plain LIKE my relatives? I mean, of course I love them -- that comes from being family, and normally is only lost through serious bad actions on someone's part. And of course I respect them -- that comes from how I was raised and trained.
But I also just plain like them, and that's just a gift.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-03-19 07:08 pm (UTC)While you (Ian) were trying on the outfits, she was explaining some of the photos to Leila and me. A group of about 20 went on the cruise together -- 14 gay men and 3 couples. The staff wasn't quite sure what to make of them -- I mean, 17 men and 3 women aren't their usual groupings.
Debbie said that one night at dinner another lady came up to her and said "I've been watching your group all along and trying to figure you guys out, but I've finally got it. The way they're all so attentive to you, those men are all the board of directors of a company and you're the CEO."
And, Auntie Debbie smiled and said, "That's so clever of you to figure it out!" and metaphorically patted the woman on the head before going back to the rest of the group and privately telling them who they really were.
She's a lot of fun.