That Goes With The Hurst Name

       The most notable thing that I remember about my Aunt Jessie is that she made delicious candy.  Every Christmas Day she would arrive with a plate of peanut butter pinwheels and chocolate covered cherries.  I also remember that she was very tall, always wore dresses with beautiful brooches and that she never had much to say.  I know now she wasn't shy but that it's the "Hurst way" to be aloof in a gathering of more than two or three people, they are well known for it.  In her letters to my grandfather, however, there is a side of Aunt Jessie that I never saw.  She was lively and funny.   I wish I had known her long enough or well enough to have found that out in person. 

      In a letter she sent to my grandfather in July 1944 (shortly after he was "drafted" into the army) she asks him how he likes being in the service - "Yeah, I can just imagine how you like to wear that tie and keep your shoes shined, that goes with the Hurst name, all the Hursts I ever knew liked to dress up and wear a tie."  That could be the Hurst family motto. Well said, Aunt Jessie.