My Aunt Dixie Richards, the 8th child of my grandparents, George and Hattie Byer. Grandma and Grandpa kind of had three families…or so it seemed to all of us anyway. The first three were girls, Evelyn, Virginia, and Deloris. The second three were two boys, Larry and Wayne, with my mom, Collene in the middle. The last three were three girls, Bonnie, Dixie, and Sandy. By the time Aunt Dixie was five years old, she was an aunt. Her sister, Evelyn had married and given birth to a daughter named Sheila “Susie” (Hushman) Young. I’m sure it seemed strange to be a child of five, and have a sister who was married and a mother…but then, I was the second oldest child, so that situation couldn’t have happened with me. My youngest sister, Allyn (Spencer) Hadlock was an aunt when she was eight years old, so I’m sure she could relate to how Aunt Dixie felt at that time…both as a young aunt, or later as a teenaged aunt.
Being an aunt when you are just a kid yourself, means that you are a fun aunt. When the nieces and nephews are over, you get to take them outside or to your room to play. Of course, as the aunt gets older, those little ones might not be so much fun to have around. Teenagers aren’t always fond of little tag-a-longs. Of course, they forget that for their older siblings, these teenaged aunts were the tag-a-longs once. I’m sure that the older kids didn’t always want to have the responsibility of taking care of the little ones.
I think that Aunt Dixie must have liked taking care of the little ones though, because in later life she even ran a 
daycare, and took care of many of the children in the family…as well as her own grandchildren, Jacob Liegman, Charles Williams, Gideon Williams, Noah Williams, and Mayme Williams. Taking care of her own grandchildren was a highlight of her life. She still sees them every day, and they love spending time with her and their grandpa, Jim Richards. The blessings of having children are the continuing line…the grandchildren. Today is Aunt Dixie’s 77th birthday. Happy birthday Aunt Dixie!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
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