Border People: Tatiana and Lilliana

I'm interested in the graves of people who are connected in life and in death, a theme of Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology and my own Border People series. This pair of crosses in Van Horn inspired, Border People: Tatiana and Lilliana.

Florence and Ruth, my grandfather's maiden aunts lived together their entire lives in the same neighborhood in Detroit. These school teachers wore flowing, flowery ugly dresses of old old women and thick opaque hosiery and sensible shoes. Their hair tightly coiffed against their heads in a fashion completely beyond my comprehension. They seemed ancient to me, but they also seemed lively and fun. Sometimes pick and needle each other. One Sunday after dinner, Florence seemed go on and on about how much the sisters loved each other and trusted each other. "Why, we even trust each other to not read each other's diaries," said Florence. Ruth's face told a different story. So the stitching shows Florence saying, "I love my sister," and Ruth saying, "She read my diary."