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Howdy Folks!
‘Howdy Folks!’ was how my Great Aunt used to start all the Post Cards she sent back from her numerous travels with my Great Uncle, Leo (pictured to her left, our right). Yeah, I know, her hand on his brother Nate’s shoulder, right!?!?
Well, no matter, alas!
They were the most fun-loving, kind spirited, adventurous people I’ve ever known. They worked & lived hard, made their fortunes through entrepreneurial businesses, smart money management & through my uncle’s love to gamble, especially in the Stock Market.
Their hard work & luck paid off, they amassed a respectable monetary fortune, retired early & lived freer than they’d ever been. They loved to travel, they loved the ‘finer’ things in life, they loved to go dancing & party, & they loved eating out at fancy restaurants. They just loved life, it wasn’t wasted on them. They truly lived & celebrated every day of their wonderfully lived lives.
I’d eagerly await her postcard tales of adventure to come in the mail because she always made time to write to my family, though my young imagination made believe that her stories were written solely for me. Honestly, between you & me, they were.
Once received, I read it right away for the brief synopsis of their travels & would eagerly await their return. Only then, would I be able to get the totality of their travels firsthand & in person as my Aunt Ann was an avid storyteller. We all knew it was story time, which was pretty much all the time, when she’d start the story off by saying, ‘Did I ever tell you the one about…’ & continue with whatever colorful, family history lesson were to follow. I collected shoeboxes full of her postcards.
She had a great writing style & penmanship, a sorely missed artform, the written word. Her penmanship was truly something to behold. Anyway, she was a great storyteller, writer & combined with her, larger than life, personality, the combination was infectious in the most wonderful way.
She always made it a priority to send a postcard from every place they visited so we could share in their adventures; it was our family thing. Thankfully so, for if not, I wouldn’t have been introduced to all the kind, fun-loving, adventures. I realized her biggest adventure was not a destination, or, even a traveling trip at all, it was the complete package in her very life lived; her life in lifelong adventure.
Her dynamic, yet simplistic, approach was unique to my Aunt. She didn’t care about the dramatic follies of man, she lived in her own world. I’m just happy I got to be a part of it & pass my memories of her, in who she was & my adventures with her, on to the world.
Now, it’s my turn to carry the penmanship torch on, paying it forward into the world. I had a wonderful teacher, she was never lost to the forever student within me. Au Revior! Aunt, Ann.
So, I get asked a lot, ‘Hey Ran, where did Getting Lost with Randy title come from? What are its origins?’ So, in the great words of my Great Aunt, Ann, I’ll say to you…’Did I ever tell you the one about…’
When I was little, Aunt Ann would watch me all the time, daycare wasn’t really a thing yet back then. When we’d go out on errands, & because of her young at heart attitude on life, she’d always say to me before we went anywhere, ‘Hey Ran, let’s get lost’. This was her way of making the routine & mundane, exciting, by pretending to be ‘Getting Lost’ with me; I loved it! We loved it!
We’d Get Lost all over town & she knew, that I knew, she was just pretending. It didn’t matter to our ‘think as thieves’ Getting Lost adventures. We both agreed, in our unspoken glee to be Getting Lost regularly, that we didn’t care because pretending was great fun. So, Getting Lost became a way of life for us. It felt like we were living in one of my favorite childhood books that I still read regularly to this day; ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!‘ by Dr. Seuss
Aunt Ann was always around & there for me & my family for our entire lives. Up until her dying day, which in its own unique irony, came on her birthday; now too, her death day. That’s right, Aunt Ann went out her way, on her 99th birthday, who does that!? My amazing Great Aunt, Ann, that’s who! Waiting for the day she was born to depart her life, how fitting.
Her last Getting Lost adventure. I just hope she found what she believed would happen when she died. Sadly, Aunt Ann, I must remain behind.
Who knows, maybe when I die & embark on my own, Getting Lost in death adventure, our paths might cross again. No one really knows, so, who knows, maybe we’ll meet again, maybe. Maybe it can be, who knows what constitutes what we call reality, maybe. Maybe, we’ll be Getting Lost together in a different reality. Who knows, maybe.
I was fortunate enough to be by her side that morning, reading Song of Myself, a favorite poem of mine from Walt Whitman’s, Leaves of Grass. I played her favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, filling the air with his unique style of savoir faire.
Her favorite song of his, Young At Heart, came on as her breathing slowed & she took her final breath. It was a sadly beautiful, life-changing, awakening experience. One though that, like she taught me, was not wasted on me, where out of death came new life in birth GLwR.
Not that most people think of death as good, but, hers was a ‘good death’ as was her life, it was a good, wonderful life. She was surrounded by love until her end, just as she’d done for me & my family, we were by her side, always, until her ultimate Getting Lost adventure!
It was that day I knew what I was to do, create Getting Lost with Randy, quit my job to travel within my dreams. All the while, honoring my Great Aunt Ann’s memory, celebrating her life in who she was, how she lived & carrying on her adventurous spirit.
Thus, Getting Lost with Randy was born!
My life, stranger than fiction. I’m imaginative, but even I, couldn’t make these amazing, real life, tales up. Thanks to my Aunt Ann’s love of detailed life stories, she imprinted upon, & within me, a heightened, keen, observational awareness. Thus, allowing her passions for life in paying attention to, remembering & passing on my own life lived in storytelling song.
Come along, sing loud, sing strong, sing along with me, my traveling Getting Lost with Randy song. In kindred spirit we’ll be, as I travel along roads less traveled. Off the beaten paths we’ll go, as Getting Lost with Randy continues on in awe & wonder as I wander through life’s tapestries, we’ll grow.
Adventuring far & wide, even though you’re not physically here, Aunt Ann, you’re always by my side. As are any of you who choose to regularly visit my site, follow along as I ride, just hold on tight! ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’
Join in the adventures, stay tuned, there’s lots more where that came from!
Peace & Love, Awaken, until next time…
