Aunt Framay Has Passed Away

The Landry family had sad news this week.  My dad’s youngest sister Frances Mae Landry Raley died on February 26, 2020.  She was born May 6, 1934, to Robert Joseph “Rob” or “Pappy” Landry, Sr. and Germaine Erie (our beloved Mee Maw) Patureau Landry.  She was the seventh of eight children.  She was the youngest of four girls.  And she was a real sweetheart.

My earliest memories of her were when I was just a kid.  Aunt Frances would not be considered a dainty woman at this point.  So when she came toward this little 3-year-old boy with her loving heart and big kisses, I was a little bit intimidated!  Like in this picture from June of 1964, she is bending down to greet me with a kiss and I am nowhere to be seen! 

My dad’s Landry family tradition of kissing one another in greeting was off-putting to my mom’s sensibilities and I probably took after her when I was a kid.  But don’t get me wrong.  I always liked my Aunt Framay, but I did avoid those kisses from time to time.  It wasn’t like with Cousin Tez.  We avoided her like the coronavirus.  We didn’t want to catch those bumps.  There is a huge difference.  If you don’t see it, then I didn’t explain it well.

This photo is from a year later when the family got together in Lake Charles.  I’m sure it was a July 4th get together for the whole Landry family.  But this picture again shows mainly the Bob Landry family and the Frances Landry Raley family.  I’ve always liked this photo even though it is overexposed. 

Mama is smiling nicely in the photo and Aunt Frances is acting all nonchalant like she’s not thinking about sneaking a kiss from me.  But as you can see, I’m not buying it for an instant!  I’ve got my head turned slightly, just in case she tried a sneak attack.  That woman was light on her feet!

I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t talk like that, especially since she is recently deceased.  But she had a great sense of humor, so I’m sure she’d approve.  The only thing I’ve thought about this photo before tonight was that I wished I had been looking at the camera.  There were no worries about a sneak attack that I can recall.

What I do remember about Aunt Frances was that not only was she very loving, there was a strength about her.  Very specifically at two tragic events.  The first one was at Mee Maw’s funeral in 1973.  It was the first time I remember witnessing my dad crying.   I also remember him being comforted by his sisters, particularly by Aunt Frances.  She was an emotional rock for the family.   The other event was the funeral of my sister Jodie in 1989.  My parents were really torn up at the loss of their firstborn child.  Aunt Frances’s hugs and kisses were exceptionally comforting on that day.  She had a big heart.

I remember her being a comfort to me at my parents’ deaths in 2017, but at that point her superpowers were starting to wane.  Not that she was any less loving, that power continued until the end of her life.  But her body was giving out slowly as it does with age.  There was no more sneaking around with her powerful hugs and kisses.  That was a definite shame.

There is a line from one of my favorite movies that goes something like, “I can’t continue being stingy with my loving.  Before this I would measure it out and only return what I was given.  Now I see that one must get on with one’s loving.  Giving love is what matters.”  That is the way I saw my Aunt Frances.  Always ready to love.

Even silly little boys who didn’t know what love was when it smacked them in the face!