My great Aunt Francis~!

This morning I would like to tell everyone about an aunt that I had . She has now left this life, but while she was here, she sure lived it!  I wanted to talk about her today, because it's not until we get to a certain age and we look back that we realize things  were happening back in the day and we didn't even know it.

My great Aunt Francis left everyone behind in the late 1960's. By that, I mean that she packed her things and up and went to NYC! She didn't care what anyone thought or that everyone disapproved. I heard the family say horrible things about her. They said she turned into a prostitute. They said she slept on the streets. Terrible terrible things. All I know is, 20 years later, she came into our lives again, dressing like a fashion model, and dripping with jewelry. I don't know if those diamonds were real or fake and I didn't care. All I knew at the age of 7, was that my Aunt Francis looked stunning. My mother, grandmother and everyone hated her. They talked bad about her. Aunt Francis would come home and take me shopping. I liked the way she walked, I liked the way she talked. She didn't care what people said about her and when she walked into a room, she commanded everyone's attention.  She always had her hair a different color. She wore wigs. She wore super high heels,She wore false eyelashes, and to everyone in my small country bumpkin town of Berwick, PA...that was AWFUL! This was in the 1970's, so of course, being your own woman was unheard of.  " Who does she think she is?" ,  I would hear my family say.

Well....I spent a whole lot of wasted years in Berwick, PA. When I left, I swore I would NEVER look back. I wear my hair a bunch of different colors, (today I am sporting black with a purple mohawk) I wear false eyelashes, and most of the time I'm dripping with jewelry, real, fake, handmade by my kids..I don't care. If it jingles and shines, I'm happy. I live my life by my own set of rules and philosophies. I have a simple motto, "be kind and do good" ...and while I'm doing that, I try to look good. I love to be outrageous, and enjoy life. 

Now that I am 51, I am really sorry for how my family talked about my Aunt Francis. Now, my family talks bad about me, they say terrible, terrible things....but really, I no longer call them my family. My true family are the people that walk thru my boutique doors every day. The women who are surviving cancer, lost a family member, divorced, remarried, dealing with children, addictions, weight problems, low self esteem. These are my family members. They need my smile, my jolt of color, my encouragement, and in their hugs, I feel encouraged as well.  My message to all the women out there.....

Live your life by your own set of rules. Don't wait for someone to approve...you are not going to get everyone's approval. and in the end, you will be sad. 

Thank you Aunt Francis. I am sorry that I didn't appreciate you years ago, but I was too young. I hope you are looking at me and smiling.............I wasted alittle time in Berwick, But baby......LOOK AT ME NOW!

Rose Ellen Moore

www.rcmooreunique.com