Effie Elfer
I remember going to visit Aunt Melba when i was about 5 pr 6. I was with my folks, visiting from Vermont. I remember loving Aunt Melba's house and her southern sweetness and hospitality. As young kids often are, my brother and i were restless wanting something to do while my folks visited and caught up with Aunt Melba. She, seeing we needed something to occupy ourselves, handed my brother and i each a pair of scissors. It had been a year of a caterpillar infestation in Louisiana, you couldn't walk anywhere without stepping on them. She told us to go outside with our scissors and cut as many caterpillars in half as we could! We were shocked that we would be allowed to do such a thing, even told to! But after a quick grin to each other off we were to slay the masses of tree defoliators. Melba would always end her phone calls, when she was about to hang up, she would say, "I embrace you." That line always makes me think of her and brings a smile to my face. Much love, I embrace you.