A to Z Blogging Challenge: P is for Pauline

Aunt Pauline's full name was Ophelia Pauline Pressley. She was one of my Great-grandpa Julius Jared Pressley's sisters. I don't know what she did during her young lady years, but by the time I knew her and was old enough that I would remember her, she was a very old lady. Aunt Pauline lived with her niece Rose in a house owned by one of her other brothers, James Franklin Pressley.

Their house was in my neighborhood, about three streets back from our street. We used to go to visit Aunt Rose and Aunt Pauline. Rose was really a cousin, not an aunt, but she was my grandparents' age, so we called her Aunt Rose out of respect for her. Anyway, she took care of her daddy's house. Being a curious little kid, I wanted to explore every nook and cranny of the place. Those efforts were always thwarted, however, when it came to going upstairs. Aunt Rose would stop me and tell me not to go upstairs or the goblins would get me. Little did she know that twenty years later, those goblins would still keep me from going upstairs in various houses without getting butterflies in my stomach. I cannot stand being upstairs in a house alone. She was right, the goblins did get me and still have me. haha

Anyway, back to Aunt Pauline. As far as I know, she never married. She was buried with the last name Pressley - her maiden name - on her tombstone. She was living with some form of dementia. I don't know whether it was officially Alzheimer's or not, or if maybe she had the brain tumors like my Aunt Mae and cousin Joe had. Whatever was the cause of it, Aunt Pauline forgot things just as soon as they were told to her. My mama gave her a picture of me and my younger siblings. She put it in her wallet for her. Then, Aunt Pauline kept worrying about what happened to the picture. I didn't understand why she couldn't remember. Now, of course, I understand more about dementia than I did as a little girl and it is even more upsetting than my little girl heart could wrap itself around.

Here is a picture of Aunt Pauline and her sister Dollie. I believe that Aunt Pauline is the one on the right.