Friday, September 8, 2023
Aunt Lee (as she preferred to be called, not Lena) was a very special person who was admired and loved by everyone who knew her. She was the last child born to her parents, Luigi & Rachella Recchio. They thought their family was complete at 7 children, but 6 years after their last child was born, Aunt Lee arrived! The family became a family of 10, 6 girls and 2 boys. Aunt Lee was a very special child from the beginning. She was a beautiful and very bright child who loved to learn about everything. Her older sisters and brothers helped to raise her and teach her. She loved to read, write, and do math. She was the only child who graduated high school from her family and actually the only child from Piney Hollow who went to high school. She didn’t mind the long bus ride from Piney Hollow to Clayton (over 15 miles) because she loved school so much! My father (her brother) told me that their parents had an alternate hidden curved stairway in a closet in their bedroom that led to the second story. Everyone used the main stairway in the kitchen, but not Aunt Lee! Every morning her mother would open her closet door and call Aunt Lee to wake up for school and she would proceed down those curved wooden stairs to start her day. I’m sure she would have also gone to college if it was possible at the time. She excelled in school and in other areas, too. She was an excellent cook, expert at sewing, knowledgeable about all kinds of agriculture, and great at preserving and canning food. She loved nature and natural things and all kinds of flowers. I fondly recall her coming to visit us many times with my cousins and taking us on field trips through the surrounding woods in Piney Hollow. She was an excellent tour guide who knew those trails very well.
She loved her home and family on Oak Road and didn’t really care to travel or be away from home. Luckily, when she was younger she did travel to her parent’s birthplace in Italy and she met some relatives who still resided there.
Aunt Lee was a very special person who will never be forgotten. She was my Confirmation Godmother. I loved her very much and wish she could have lived forever!
