My mother's sister Jean Owen was perhaps the loveliest person I've ever known - gentle, kind and gracious.
When our daughters were little we spent a Christmas season in Montreal, and I remember Auntie Jean saying she would make a "Christmas Pie" for a special lunch. We had no idea what this would be, though later I realised I had seen Auntie Jean knitting unobtrusively for a while ...
Anyway, on the lunch table was a cake-shaped decoration made of cardboard and paper, with ribbons radiating from it, each going to a place with a child's name attached. When they were told to, each child slowly pulled the ribbon, and drew from inside the pie a little gift. The girls each got a tiny doll with knitted nightie and sleeping bag.
That was typical of Auntie Jean's thoughtfulness. She was a good cook too, but that's another story.
Jean Owen in 1964
What a wonderful story and a such a memory to treasure!
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