Aunt Bertha

Aunt Bertha

“ ‘Fair is as fair does’ ~ Aunt Bertha, what does that mean?”  My name is Steven and I am ten years old. Aunt Bertha is my favourite aunt. She has all these sayings like: ‘the hurrier I go the behinder I get’ and ‘beauty’s only skin deep’. Then there’s ‘a penny for your thoughts’. I’ve never seen a penny. I’d never asked her before what any of them meant. I would just say uh-huh or maybe nothing. After all I am only 10 years old and none of them made sense to me. ‘Fair is as fair does’ made me curious though. Or maybe I was just tired of saying ‘uh-huh’ or maybe feeling bad because I was kind of ignoring the aunt that made the most delicious cinnamon buns and always had cookies when I stopped at their house on my way home from school. If I ever wanted a sleep over on the weekends, I could stay the whole weekend or only one night. Didn’t matter. Uncle John is my favourite uncle too and he’s a lot quieter than Aunt Bertha. He’s always out in the garden, gone downtown with his buddies or behind his newspaper. Maybe he gets tired of hearing all the sayings too. When Aunt Bertha answered my question about what her saying about fair is as fair does, she was making a pie. She just kept on rolling the pie dough and said “Well, Steven, dear. It’s rather like this pie I’m making.” I rolled my eyes when she said that. “When I tell you I’m making peach pie, I put peaches in it.” I had to think real hard about that ‘cause I wasn’t sure it made sense. “So-o-o, if you tell me you’re making peach pie and then make an apple pie, and I expected peach pie………..” Aunt Bertha started cutting up the peaches for the pie. “What would you say if I gave you a piece of the pie I made, Steven?” I got out the sugar and the cloves for her. “I guess I’d say, that you hadn’t been fair. You told me one thing and did another thing.” Aunt Bertha wiped her hands on the wet towel she kept beside her and took the sugar and cloves from me. “Thank you Steven. You’re exactly right…..Here’s your Uncle John. Now let’s get him a cold drink from the fridge. He and his friends have been out on a long walk. I’ve got one for you too and a plate cookies. You two fellows can have a chat while I finish up this pie. Maybe then I can tell you about other sayings that I love.” I just said ‘uh-huh and thank you’ and took Uncle John his drink. 

~~~~~

Years later, I would recall that conversation with affection. I had been looking at my reflection in the water. Like my Uncle John, I took long walks and was hungry. Aunt Bertha’s cinnamon buns, peach pie, cookies floated in front of me. Her sayings never really became a favourite of mine, but what I learned from them were the anchors that kept me safe.

“The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, 

and only the wise can see them.”

~ Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist