When you meet someone who is old, do you think they were always old?

Or do you wonder about the path that led them to this place, the events that shaped them into the person standing before you?

Ranghild Katarina Henrietta Tolf a.k.a. “Auntie” was my great-grandfather‘s sister. She was a surrogate grandmother to my mother and likewise to me.

Born on this day in 1889, she was almost 70 years old when she attended my christening.

As a young child it never occurred to me that Auntie had ever been anything but a kind grandmotherly woman who wore sensible shoes.

But she had once been a lovely young lady who wore beautiful hats.