In Praise of (Much) Older Women

Part 2 Me and Miss McKee

Miss McKee was my second "affair" with an older woman but she was not at all like Mrs. Baldwin. In fact she was just the opposite in that she did not have a husband - and moreover, she didn't even have a television. She was very proper and old fashioned - think of Granny in the Bugs Bunny cartoons and you will have a pretty good mental image of Miss Maude McKee. She lived alone in her big old family home on Brunswick Street across from the hospital where I believe her father had been a doctor. So what was our common bond? The answer is old stuff. Mrs. Baldwin may have had the big color TV but Miss McKee had neat old stuff - rooms full of old furniture, shelves full of books and photographs. And in her garage there were old garden tools, glass bottles and even a mummified human arm in a box - way cooler than Gilligan's Island!

So that was the deal. I delivered her paper, mowed her lawn (push mower only) and did a few odd jobs and in return I was allowed to explore her house from top to bottom. It was actually more like a museum - the bedrooms upstairs were still furnished with porcelain wash basins on stands in front of ornate mirrors. In the upstairs hall there was a particular old roll top desk that really fascinated me for some reason - but what would a 13 year old boy do with a desk like that?
Downstairs was the parlour - not a living room or a den - it was a parlour. And that is where Miss McKee received her gentlemen callers. I recall one particular time when I was to bring along some friends because it was her birthday and there was to be a party. There we sat in the parlour on a sunny afternoon looking at her stereopticon picture slides while Miss McKee served up dishes of ice cream and cake. And remember, this was 1966 - not 1866.

Miss McKee was very generous and often said that she intended for me to have the old roll top desk but that was not to be. She did however give me a very old boys adventure book called "Chums" which I still have today and it is one of my favorite possessions. Sadly my "affair" with Miss McKee came to quite an abrupt ending. One day a stranger answered the door and I was told that the paper would no longer be required - Miss McKee was in the hospital. A few weeks later a big truck was in her yard loading up all her antique furniture including the old roll top desk. Miss McKee had passed away and no one told me - after all, I was just the paper boy.

But I still have fond memories of our many visits in the parlour and I often think what a strange pair we were. But the simple fact is that we enjoyed each other's company - and I guess that is not so strange after all, is it?