Soul Sisters in Real Life

Today’s listening is La Belle’s ‘Marmalade’ as performed by the entourage of bad ass women (Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya, & P!NK) on Moulin Rouge’s soundtrack. 

Have you ever met two individuals who were very obviously soul mates? 

Some people don’t believe in that notion, because they’ve never seen the living embodiment of it but I have seen soul mates reoccur in my life numerous times. 

My Aunt Selma and Aunt Bertha were one such instance of a soul bond — they put the Soul in Soul Sisters. 

They were biological sisters and my Grandma T.’s aunts so my Great-Great Aunts. Both sisters were born in the 1910's and were only three years apart in age. 

And, they definitely earned the title Great-Great. 

For approximately eight years, my family spent a great deal of time with my two Great-Great Aunts.

Most of my memories are of their beautifully lush Philadelphia two-story home that they bought and owned together. 

You see, my Great-Great Aunts Selma and Bertha were two powerhouse women that took over the fashion industry in the city of Philadelphia.

A part of the International Ladies Garments Workers Union in the 1960s, both my Great-Great Aunts were acclaimed for their prowess in fashion.

So much so that Aunt Selma was awarded the Philadelphia Tribune’s award for Designer of the Year multiple times. 

They were impressive women from a loving family of 9. There were five other siblings among them and they were all quite close, but they made Philadelphia their home after growing up in Tennessee. 

The love we held for Aunt Selma and Aunt Bertha was profound.

Truthfully, their family home was a second home to us as we spent so much time with them.

My brother and I used to take the most amazing naps on their plush red carpet. They had hand-sewn their own matching burgundy red curtains with matching white drapes. In that same living room, there was a wall of mirrors à la 1970s. 

They were the definition of cool.

Aunt Selma was much taller than Aunt Bertha and was a renown track-star back when she was in high school.

Aunt Bertha was petite, but never petite enough according to her because she used to shove her size 7 feet into even smaller heels to appear more ‘delicate’. 

My mom swears up and down that Aunt Bertha was the funniest woman to ever grace the earth and I believe her, because I spent hours laughing it up with her even when she entered a care home after the passing of Aunt Selma.

Aunt Selma’s passing in March 2002 was devastating. It was another significant loss, especially for Aunt Bertha who never was able to recover from her broken heart.

Aunt Bertha, who was taken care of by Aunt Selma once they reached their late 80s together, died of what I think was a broken heart September 2002.

Those 9 months without her soul sister were the end of Aunt Bertha’s days. 

Still, I remember most visiting her at her care home and bringing lemon yogurt which she went wild over. I remember playing handheld travel games with her to keep her mind sharp. I loved those visits. 

I loved those women.

That’s one thing about heartbreak — it hurts so badly, because you know exactly what you lost and you know in your heart you’ll never recover anything quite the same again.

Aunt Bertha lived with that heartbreak for nearly a year before she succumbed to old age. 

Imagine living with a broken heart for an extended period of time — you know that’s not healthy and when you reach nearly 90, even the strongest, most amazing woman had to let go.

So she did and she took with her yet another piece of my heart.

There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t miss my Aunt Selma and Aunt Bertha. 

Always together, I cannot think of one without remembering the other. 

That was true love.

That was that Soul Sister bond.

If they heard ‘Lady Marmalade’ there’s not a doubt in my mind those women would have been on a dance floor together tearing it up.

So when you listen to that song in the future, give it the best dance you can for them. 

They would have loved it as much as I do.