Aunt Vi and Uncle Larry

I was talking to my Dad about Aunt Vi the other day. I had lots of questions....she had been on my mind for some reason. The last time I saw Aunt Vi was in 1979 and by then she was in a wheel chair.

I remember her being really beautiful, and as you can tell by the photos, she remained beautiful even into her older years.

Aunt Vi was the oldest of the Schumann kids...7 younger brothers. She was about 16 when their mom passed away. Two cousins, Francis and Angela (twins) took turns taking care of the kids until Aunt Vi finished high school. She then took over. Raising all of those boys must have been quite the hand full. (And I hazard a guess that all of my siblings and cousins would not disagree!!!)

Aunt Vi married Uncle Larry later in life and they never had children. Uncle Larry worked in construction. He also booked sports bets. Uncle Larry loved to play poker....called Aunt Vi in the middle of the night and asked: "What kind of bird am I?" Vi grumbled that it was the middle of the night. Turns out he was a "jail bird." The poker game he had been playing ran into a little trouble. She went down to bail him out.

Dad says they used to fight like sparring partners. He thinks they loved it. When Aunt Vi ended up in the wheel chair he would carry her up the steps into their apartment. When she became bed-ridden, he used to sleep sitting up in a chair and help her out with anything she needed.

Uncle Larry remained in that same apartment to the end of his days.