Everyone should have one relative who is absolutely crazy about her. In my life that was my Aunt Cary, my mother’s much younger sister. Adopted when my mother was nine, Cary and my mother were never terribly close though she did visit with us from time to time. But my relationship with Aunt Cary began in the summer of 1948 when my parents went West to look for work leaving me with my grandparents and my sixteen year old aunt. We spent several months together at my grandparents’ summer home that year. When my mother returned to New York to get me, she had hepatitis from severe mononucleosis and had to rest for a while. My day to day care fell to Aunt Cary.
As you can tell from the above photo, Cary found me fascinating. Here I seem to have brought her a leaf, and she is as intent on it as if I had brought her a nugget of gold. I have photos of my walking with her, lying in the hammock with her and playing croquet(as if a one year old could play croquet.) She celebrated my first birthday with me while my parents were away, making, I am sure, a big deal of it. For Cary many things were a big deal.
She called me “Ort.” It’s a true sign of a connection when an adult has a special word they use just for you!
Saved By Words 
I wonder where ‘Ort’ came from
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Was there any derivation for the Ort name?
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I guess it means a small morsel. I was very tiny, so maybe that is why she called me that. It was very affectionate.
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Aunt Cary certainly looked to be a very elegant lady and very attentive to you.
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That’s a lovely photo and memory to have I think I would have liked Aunt Cary. It sounds as if she was ‘sensitive’.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Aw so sweet! My little sister was born when I was 10 and I adored her and took her everywhere during her early years.
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I had the same relationship with the sister eight years younger. I think my mom had been the only child for so long that she resented getting a sister.
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Lovely story. And yes – every child needs someone to love them unconditionally.
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I hope each finds one.
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Every child needs that special someone to take an interest in him or her. For me, it was my uncle Joe (after my mother and father divorced). If it weren’t for him ‘replacing’ my father in my life, I don’t know what I would’ve done (or become),
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I am amazed at what a difference just one adult can make for a child.
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How special Aunt Cary was!
My uncle called me Boopsie.
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You understand about the special feeling from a nickname.
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I understand special names. I’ll write out son John $’s nickname, because this isn’t on my blog. He was Sopper Gnash Twitchit Beezoo Itchy-rumpus Snugglebum.
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Perfect.
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Such wonderful memories. Thanks for sharing.
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You are welcome.
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How nice to have a special aunt. You don’t tell us whether your aunt remained a powerful influence in your life as you got older.
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Sadly she died in 1969, so I didn’t have her in my adult life.
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Sorry to hear that.
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I will be writing about that also, sadly.
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I bet building a relationship with you also helped her feel more connected to the family as a whole. 🙂
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I think I was the only family member who really connected with her like that.
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Wow. I’m sure that really made a difference then. I had a cousin who was adopted and I know it was hard for him because his older brother never let him forget it. They were never close.
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I think the age difference was too great.
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How far apart were they in age?
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9 years.
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That’s not too bad. I was close with cousins that age when I was growing up. My youngest cousins were 5 years older on both sides of the family.
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I think she just didn’t like her much.
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I think so too. Or maybe it worked both ways. Glad she found you though!
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Me too.
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I just love this! Yes, every child needs someone like an an Aunt Cary.
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Very sweet.
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You have numerous lovely collections.
I have an Aunt like. Shes my favourite.
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Hope you are doing well.
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Yes I am. Not sure you saw my previous email?
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No I did not.
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It is very poignant to read this post now, having just read post 3.
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So nice. I had a name for myself and everyone called me by that name 😊
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I had many nicknames, but ort was my favorite.
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