A Letter From Linda

My friend Linda wrote. “I just buried my 92 year old, Aunt Iris. I put together two display boards of old photos of her life, for each side of the casket. She was a beauty up until her death but she had knock-out looks and movie star quality as a young girl! She was a dance instructor for many, many years and owned her own studio. She taught me from the age of 2 ½; alongside me she taught Sharon Tate, who went on to be famous before she was killed by Manson and his group.

“One word to describe my Aunt: Class! You can't buy that and she had it all. Looks, talent and class.

“On one of the boards in the center was a picture of Aunt Iris with our old family friend Harry James and several of my other aunts and my cousin Jimmy and his wife. As I was showing all the family members who was who in some of the pictures, my oldest cousin Jimmy leaned in and whispered in my ear, 'You do know that Harry James was madly in love with our Aunt all of his life, don't you?' I answered, 'No!' But I wasn't surprised.

“I was telling the younger ones that Harry was married to Betty Grable, a movie star and pin-up girl during the war. Of course they didn't know who Betty or Harry were! But the rest of us oldies did!

"We sent my Aunt Iris, the dancer, off right. Her dream was to dance with Fred Astaire, as was mine. I am sure she got her wish now and she danced her way into the gates of heaven as Jesus clapped!"