Dear Mary,

I have just arrived home after staying with my great aunt in Winnipeg. I hadn't seen her for about ten years so it was a bit of a toss-up whether we would have anything in common to talk about or whether it would be very dull. It certainly wasn't the latter!

There was a lot going on in the city: theatres, concerts, ballet and sports of all kinds. Aunt S. had got tickets for the things she thought we would both like. She very kindly got two tickets for a rock concert. I don't think she was enjoying herself as she sat with her hands over her ears.

She does have some very definite ideas, the way things should be in the house, I mean. For instance, meals were always on time, we were punctual for any dates we might have, and I had to learn quickly where things in the kitchen went: which saucepan on which shelf, what plates to use for certain meals, the cutlery had to be put back in the drawer in proper order, etc., etc. Not that she got annoyed if I made mistakes. She just quietly put things to rights when I was on hand to observe. TV was a bit of a problem. She had her own ideas about what she wanted to see and her ideas didn't always coincide with mine. If she retired into another room with a book, I knew that my choice wasn't to her liking.

Luckily, she didn't do a lot of house cleaning in between the days the cleaning ladies came, which was fine by me. I hate housework! We talked about a lot of things and I was surprised to find I was able to discuss all kinds of subjects with her: sex, homosexuality, AIDS, etc. without either of us getting embarrassed. She was very loath to condemn anyone, but she obviously had her own code of behaviour which she believed to be right, and which she was not prepared to change. I think she thought some of my clothes were pretty weird, and she couldn't understand why I had to wash my hair every day. But she put up with me and I believe she was really sorry when I had to leave.

It's good for the old and young to get together sometimes, I believe. One does learn to be tolerant of other peoples' ways of thinking and doing things. All together, I enjoyed my visit and she said she'd be glad to see me any time and we ought to keep in touch. Unfortunately she's not into computers, so I can't e-mail her, and I'm not much of a letter-writer, though I've done pretty well with this one - only because you were so anxious to know how the two weeks went.

See you soon.

Love,

Susan

---