I loved my aunt, and I especially loved her sense of humor and the vibrant tones that she would use when she told her stories. My aunt had always lived in North Carolina but had moved to Hillsborough only in her twenties. Many had assumed she moved away because of a potential partner, but I refuse to believe this opinion. Why had she chosen to live alone? Why would any woman of community stature and grace seek to simply isolate herself from others? I dreamed about the days that I would see my aunt sitting on her porch. She would make items for the house and others in the community and especially loved to knit winter scarves. She also took on a peculiar trade for women of her time, which was carpentry. My mother would tell me stories of how my aunt would send a worker in the afternoon to fe
