Friday, October 15, 2010

Happy Birthday Hoohoo

HooHoo's Honeymoon Harley, approximately 30 x 18 inches; paint, paper and polurethane on plywood. Click on each image in this post to enlarge,

Left—I'm holding a puppy named Harp that belonged to a family friend. Hoohoo watched it for a week while they were away, You'll see Hoohoo's face in the mirror behind me. This was taken in her 1766 home, and I still have most of the items behind me. Right—A portrait of Hoohoo in the early 1950s holding one of her cats. The early morning sun was striking it just right.

Hoohoo and me, 1967. I've published this photo before in this blog, but it's a really good one of her, one that really shows her personality, and is exactly how I remember her.

Hoohoo at a young age, holding a bunch of wildflowers and wearing a flowerprinted outfit. She's at the shore near their beach cottage which was only a stone's throw from their main house. The family house, while very close to the shore, lacked water views, being up a large hill and and down the street a bit. The cottage on the other hand, was right on the water, with granite steps going from the lawn right into the water.  

O C T O B E R  1 5 ,  2 0 1 0 — Today would have been my aunt Hoohoo's 85th birthday. She died in her 57th year, so it's hard for me to imagine her elderly. I can tell you that if she had her health at 85, she would have been a force to be reckoned with and my life would be totally different today. As it is, I probably wouldn't be here today had it not been for her in my young life. My parents were great, Hoohoo was my mother's sister, but she "got" me at an early age, supported me through the bad time, and made me the artist I am today. I've written quite a bit about her in this blog, so I'll leave it at this: Happy Birthday Hoohoo, and I'm so sorry we didn't have more time together once I grew up. I miss you every day.

10 comments:

  1. And Happy birthday, HooHoo...thank you for taking such good care of our friend! (I know he loved you dearly, lest you ever had a thought otherwise!) Rest well...

    Nice job, Casey...

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  2. "Understanding and love are interdependent. Love is made of understanding, and understanding is made of love." - Thich Nhat Hank

    To be remember with so much love, every day - now that is the greatest gift that one can give or receive. The ones that love and understand us we never want to let hold of, they are made of pure gold.

    Love you Casey.

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  3. Happy Birthday HooHoo!
    What a great nephew you left behind! Rest your soul knowing that he is surrounded my lots of people who love him.

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  4. Where did the name "Hoohoo" come from?

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  5. We lived in Germany until I was close to three years old, and I didn't really speak much at all until after my 3rd birthday. The story goes that when we walked into the family home, my grandmother called to Hoohoo who was upstairs, "Yoohoo, come down here, they're home!" and I seemed to think her name was Yoohoo but could only manage to eke out Hoohoo. I called her that from that day forward. Her given name was Gloria.

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  6. Love the story of HooHoo's name. :) I was recently "home" on the west coast and got to spend some time with my 3 year old great-nephew. He called me "Auntie Kathel" the whole time. (My given name is Kathy and that's what all of my family calls me.) The first day I was there, his dad told him "Auntie Kath'll have to go home in a little while." I guess that's why he thinks my name is Auntie Kathel! I wonder if he'll always call me that...

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  7. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOOHOO.

    GRANNY

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  8. I think she would have had a nice day. I went to the family cemetery today to say hello. The 75 year old azalea is almost 10 feet tall now. It has wonderful peach colored flowers in the spring.

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