Aunt Helen:

A Joker? You betcha!

Christine Yeung

 

This woman had the most infectious laugh. It was the kind you'd never forget. For one, she was tall and slim, a very rare occurrence in my family. She knew how to joke, how to play, how to be funny without meaning to. One of my favorite memories with her was when we were eating at a Chinese restaurant one day. The four of us, my cousin Rosalie, my sisters Catherine and Caroline, and I sat together beside Aunt Helen. Catherine was the youngest, about 6 years of age. While waiting for the food to arrive, the three of us older kids began sticking our chopsticks through the hole at the tip of the handle of our china spoons. We must have been having some sort of fun, because soon after, Catherine picked up her utensils and began doing the same.

Again and again, she poked the tip of her spoon with her chopstick, but to no avail. Aunt Helen, impressed with her determination, offered to help her accomplish the task. "Crack!" The entire tip of the spoon's handle fell off. I began laughing like crazy, partly because that was the first time I'd ever seen somebody break a spoon at a restaurant, partly because that "somebody" was Aunt Helen, and partly because she broke it while attempting something rather childish and silly. We all broke out in gales of laughter. Finally, we endeavored to stifle our cries of mirth, when a bemused waiter approached Aunt Helen. She spoke matter-of-factly and beckoned the man to bring another spoon.

And if that wasn't enough, add another chopstick to the equation. One of Catherine's favorite foods was sticky rice. Aunt Helen, again, kindly offered to serve Catherine some sticky rice. So she picked up the chopsticks, one in each hand, and began digging at the sticky rice. Now, either the rice was insanely sticky, or Aunt Helen was putting an incredible amount of effort and concentration into dividing up that sticky rice with the chopsticks. "Snap!" When I looked up, I saw one chopstick intact in her left hand, the other one was cut in half. One half was in her right hand; the other was stuck in the sticky rice, pointing towards the ceiling. Again, the five of us doubled over in tears, because we were laughing so hard. The staff at the restaurant must have been just about ready to kick us out. Again, the same waiter, more puzzled than ever, approached Aunt Helen. Calmly, she told the waiter that we needed another chopstick.

Only Helen could have handled the matter so gracefully. Only Helen could get away with a broken china spoon and a broken chopstick so innocently, and sweetly. Only Helen could make that evening unforgettable. She was the most witty and clever aunt I ever had, and also the funniest. The way she carried herself just made you wonder: heaven must be missing an angel, because she's right here on earth, with us.

 

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