In a recent post I wrote of my dad's sister, Aunt Beulah Lee and her husband, Uncle Davie. In a strange, quirky twist of fate, two of his sisters married brothers, and two of his brothers married sisters.

His sister, my Aunt Lillie Mae, was one of those. She married Raymond, the brother of Davie. Where Aunt Beulah Lee was a nurturer, Aunt Lillie Mae was loud, boisterous, and a practical joker. I was a quiet, shy child; and, quite frankly, she scared the living daylights out of me most of the time.

While Aunt Beulah Lee had only one daughter, Aunt Lille Mae had four--two sons and two daughters. She kept a rajor strap hanging just inside her kitchen door. Though she was always threatening to whop one of the kids with it, she was all blow and no go. But I can tell you one thing!! She had my attention! When I was there, a more model child there never was.

I recall one occasion when I spent the night. The next morning Aunt Lille Mae came into the room where we girls were still asleep. All of a sudden she popped that rajor strap against the covers and yelled, "Get outta' that bed; breakfast is getting cold!" If an eight-year-old could have died from a heart attack, I would have been a goner right then!!

I jumped out of that bed faster than a snake could slither through the grass, making a mad dash for the kitchen. Meanwhile, my two cousins and Aunt Lillie Mae were falling all over themselves laughing.

Good fortune did not smile on this family as it did Uncle Davie and Aunt Beulah Lee. Their youngest daughter was diagnosed with Polio (the Salk vaccine was still some years away).She spent several months in the Polio ward at Children's Hospital here in Oklahoma City. The polio affected her legs, one more severely than the other. She had several surgeries and had to wear a brace on it for many years. Then, her older brother was also diagnosed with polio. His thankfully was a much milder case; but he was left with his right arm permanently shriveled.

We all prayed diligently for our two cousins; I had two rare 50 cent pieces that I gave to the March of Dimes during that time. Children and parents worked side by side to raise money for the March of Dimes. Everyone so wanted a cure for this horrible disease that raged in the late forties and early fifties, killing and permanently disabling so many children, as well as some adults.

Years later, one of their granddaughters was diagnosed in her twenties with cancer of the mouth. She died a year later, leaving two small children, whom her brother later adopted and reared.

Bringing up four children on a farm also had kept them financially challenged as well. They never accumulated much earthly wealth, but they found their wealth through their faith.

I know that the sorrow we face can strengthen us; it has me; and it did them as well. They were devout to their deaths. They lie beside Uncle Davie and Aunt Beaulah Lee now awaiting their Savior. I rejoice for their souls, already in Heaven.