Sailing with Aunt Jean
When the SS United States, the historic 1950’s ocean liner, made news recently, sailing down the Atlantic seaboard, I took notice. She was pulled along by tugs, no longer able to power herself. Gliding across the horizon, she was still magnificent to behold. Once known as the Toast of the Seas, the SS United States was America’s Flagship, and she still holds the Blue Riband Award for the fastest transatlantic crossing. Built in 1951, she was hailed as a triumph of American engineering and design. Her spacious cabins, art deco furnishings, and world-class dining attracted American and international elites, celebrities, and dignitaries of the day. By 1969, however, transatlantic jets rendered her obsolete, and since then, she has languished on the piers in New York and Philadelphia.
Onlookers flocked to shore for one last sight of the aging but still majestic liner as she traveled down the coast bound for a pier in Alabama. My interest in her was personal. My aunt and uncle worked on board the United States liner in her glory days. He was the First Engineer, and she was a first-class steward. I was fond of my uncle, but my glamorous and flamboyant Aunt Jean owned my heart.
She was a mixture of Auntie Mame and Captain Jack Sparrow. She drank like a sailor but had manners of the well-bred. I was twelve when she offered me a taste of her highball, a potent mix of Scotch with just a hint of ginger ale. I still recall the fizzy taste of it. “You must learn to hold your liquor,” she cautioned me.
I overheard the most colorful phrases in her presence. While my dad fretted and implored her to watch her language around us children, I hung on every word. Aunt Jean was fun and irreverent. Her pearls of wisdom were shared in a Katherine Hepburn voice, “Darling,” she commanded, “When you walk into a room, hold your head up high.” I practiced for hours, a book atop my head.
She became a first-class steward on the SS United States at a time when women were more likely to stay home and raise a family. As the personal concierge to the rich and famous, Aunt Jean’s clients included royalty, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and movie stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Her visits to our home were highly anticipated. Arriving in a yellow checkered cab (nobody took taxis in my neighborhood) she bore gifts from faraway places. I loved my Geisha doll from Tokyo and the clogs from Holland. However, my stuffed kangaroo, with the joey in its pouch, remained my bedtime companion for years.
Aunt Jean was a tall and handsome woman. She wore pearls and high heels and styled her hair in an elegant chignon. She was chic and stylish but could be spontaneous and fun-loving. The memory of my sister and me riding our tricycles up and down the block draped in her mink coat and Chanel bag is ingrained in my childhood memory. She brought glamour and excitement wherever she went.
Aunt Jean had retired when I graduated college. Starting my first real job as an Executive Trainee at Saks Fifth Avenue, I was in desperate need of fashion sense. As usual, she offered sage advice. “Invest in good pieces,” she said. “They are timeless.” I bought the Burberry raincoat and still own it, albeit several sizes too small, a testament to her wisdom.
Our memories come alive in different ways. The scent of a spring lilac or the melody of a childhood song ushers an onslaught of recollections. That morning, the sight of the SS United States caught my breath and returned me to an earlier time in my life. I was grateful to remember a beloved aunt and to relive a favorite part of my childhood.
Have you ever encountered an aroma, a song, or an event that unexpectantly brought you back in time to someone you deeply loved?
Bit by bit, that’s all she wrote…
Click here for more information on the history and status of the SS United States.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/historic-ship-embarks-final-voyage-104529141.html