AUNT IDA LAMBERT

There are several "Aunt Idas" on my family tree, but Aunt Ida Lambert is on Mike's. In the 1970s and '80s, Aunt Ida was probably the oldest living member of Mike's family on the Warnock side. Mike thinks she was his Grandfather Warnock's cousin. Her maiden name was Warnock. When we visited Mike's mother in Arkansas, we called on Aunt Ida several times. The first visit was in her home; the second was at a nursing home. She was just as lucid and gracious when we saw her at the nursing home as she was on the previous visit. She lived into her 90s, I believe. When Mike explained to her that he was Bennie's son, Aunt Ida said, "And your birthday is January 23, 1941." She was locally famous for her facility to remember birthdays. Then Aunt Ida added, "That Bennie – she's ideal! She's ideal!" That was the first time I had ever heard the word "ideal" applied to a person.

I thought of Aunt Ida yesterday. Mike agreed to help me pick the pears, and in the process, he used several ladders. When he used the taller stepladder, I held it as he climbed to the top to get the uppermost fruit. Mike said, "If you want to continue to have a husband, hold tight to that ladder." That's when I thought of Aunt Ida.

In explaining her own history, Aunt Ida told us matter-of-factly about her first husband, a Lambert, who climbed a tree to "show out" for her and fell and broke his neck. It had to have been a horrible thing for her to witness, but she didn't so much as hesitate in the telling of it. She went on to tell us that after that she married his brother. I know she raised children, but neither of us remember whether she had any of her own.

A most interesting woman – was Aunt Ida Lambert. KW