Thank You, Aunt Virginia!

I have bragged about my Aunt Virginia here before, but it bears repeating. When you are lucky enough to have such an aunt, you want the world to know it. Aunt Virginia has always been my role model, a loving wife, devoted mother, and skilled homemaker who nonetheless studied for her Masters in Library Science while raising five children, and who had a long career introducing people to the joys contained in a big library full of delicious books.

Even once she retired, she continued to volunteer at her library, as she still does. Aunt Virginia is in her 90s (she wouldn't thank me for saying how far in), but she still goes to Pilates, drives herself and her friends around in her bright red Honda Fit, drinks a martini every day, and loves to dance. She also makes the best fruitcake on the planet, and possibly in the universe.

You have to be a fan of old-fashioned, boozy fruitcake to appreciate her skill - and both of us are.  Her fruitcake is moist and rich and infused with brandy - what's not to like?  I even get a charge from the bright colors of the preserved fruits. A thin slice is plenty for dessert, and we have taken to cutting even the thin slice into "bites," all the better to stretch it out and make it last just a bit longer.  It is always gone by mid-January, even so.

So, this is just my way of saying, "Thanks, Aunt Virginia!" for the heavy package that arrives each year on my doorstep, signaling another joyous Christmas season.