Peach Thang

Aunt Vern’s Peach Thang

Before Pinterest was on the scene, my Aunt Vern had a killer recipe for a peach dessert. This delicious treat with peaches, butter, and other stuff didn’t have a fancy name.

One year on summer vacation in Seattle, my cousins and I drove to Portland, Oregon to visit their mom, my Aunt Verna. While there, she made a meal complete with dessert.  Feeding you was her love language.

She made this peach dessert without looking at a cookbook or recipe card. When I asked what it was called, she shrugged her shoulders and said, “Just call it a ‘peach thang.’”

In that moment, I wrote the ingredients on a piece of paper to later transfer to an index card to add to my recipe box. I wrote, “PEACH THANG” at the top.

Aunt Verna was my father’s sister. She passed away during Holy Week this year. With her passing I realized she was the last of that generation connected to my father.

During my lifetime, Aunt Vern lived in the pacific northwest. She visited Cincinnati about once a year when my grandfather was alive. She visited after he passed but not as often. In my late 20's and 30's, I got to know her better during my annual visits to Seattle to hang with my cousins for two weeks in the summer. During these visits, we always made sure to include time with Aunt Vern. Sometimes, it was fun day trips to the casino. But it was always a chance to have a meal at her table.

She was a retired registered nurse who loved to garden and cook in her free time. She also loved the Lord and her church. Before she got ill, she was active going to her community center to workout a few days a week. She also liked a little wine or whiskey.

When I reflect on the years I had with her as an adult, it wasn’t a lot of time. But the time I had, I felt her love for me as her niece. She carried the spirit that we were family, connected by people we loved. That was it. She led with that. When she met my husband, she embraced him as family right away.

During the months my father battled cancer, I talked to her often to keep her posted on what was happening. However, I took the time to process with her my emotions around losing him. She was supportive and understood as I talked through tears, the pain I felt watching his agony. I was grateful for those moments.

As I look toward celebrating her life, I am thankful. I am thankful for the time spent with her and the wisdom and care she always gave.

Recently I welcomed my South Carolina family as they visited us in Columbus, Ohio. I made the “Peach Thang” for them, and they loved it! That was my way to share love like Aunt Vern would, and for me to honor a woman that will not be forgotten.