But mom was more than just my mom. She was an auntie too. My Auntie Laverne is mom’s older sister. Auntie had four kids starting after her marriage to Uncle Jim when she was eighteen; so, they were young adults when my brothers and I came along. Ethel was auntie to four great kids, my first cousins: Lou, Jimmy, Kenneth, and John. She would play with them and run around with them. Her energy matched theirs and her capacity for fun was unending.
Family lore has it that one winter mom and the kids were sledding and having a ball. Auntie Laverne tells the story that the revelers would come up to the kitchen window to get a drink of water and then head right back out to the sledding hill. When mom came up for her drink, my auntie warned her not to expect her to play with Ethel’s kids like this. Ethel was an outstanding aunt. (Aunt Laverne is an amazing auntie too! She’s just not a sledder but neither am I, so I don’t feel as if I missed out.)
There are stories that fill in the growing years of these niece and nephews. Lou had three skirts and only one zipper. She would sew the zipper into whichever skirt she wanted to wear that day to high school. Mom said she would come out with her jacket all done up and my aunt, her mother, never knew what that girl wore to school.
The boys were trouble, mischief, and fun by the pound. There is another family story that describes a time when they were meeting my father for the first time. The two youngest, Ken and John, grabbed of the chair my father was sitting in and lifted it above their heads as far as they could reach--- with my dad still sitting in it. My dad’s life flashed before his eyes when John couldn't reach any higher yet Kenny was pushing onward towards the sky. The years that Ethel watched her sister’s kids grow up were among the happiest in her life. She loved being an auntie!
These nephews grew into manhood and started families of their own. Lou, the only girl, became our nanny in California. My mom never let these young people outgrow her love and attention. She was constantly looking for and finding inexpensive little bits of whatnot that reminded her of her niece and nephews. She was always telling stories of their childhood. Ethel taught me how to be great auntie and to love every minute of it.
When her nephews were old enough to have grandchildren of their own, Ethel was still their favorite aunt. She would remember each of their birthdays with a very special cake. I would always wait with great anticipation for Kenny or John’s birthdays. This may seem odd until you know that Aunt Ethel would make her nephews a Mounds Cake each year on their special day. She rarely, if ever, made this decadent delicacy for our family. It was special and it was for her nephews. I remember being excited when I would see her mixing the marshmallow cream with the coconut. I would ask to stir the melting chocolate chips. I will never forget the heavenly taste of mom’s Mounds Cake. Nor will I likely ever forget how delicious it is to be the favorite auntie!
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Ethel’s MOUNDS CAKE
1 box Devil's food cake mix
1 c. milk
1 c. sugar
30 marshmallows or one large jar of Mallow Cream
14 oz. coconut
1 tsp. vanilla
12 oz. chocolate morsels
1 stick butter
Bake cake mix as directed in 9x13 inch pan.
Melt and boil milk, sugar and marshmallows.
Boil 1 minute.
Add coconut and vanilla.
Pour on cake while hot.
Melt chocolate morsels with butter.
Pour over coconut mixture and chill until chocolate hardens.
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