Shirley Beth (Naile) Woolfitt
September 21, 1947 - May 12, 2011
Even as a young girl, she always had style.
On May 12, 2011 I received a phone call that no one should ever have to receive. For some reason, it felt like I was in a movie. My sister was the one to call me. The first thing she said to me is "I love you Sascha, I love you." I thought, okay that's sweet, but she's really bothering me at work to tell me that?? Then she told me the bad news, I thought she was kidding with me. (not a very funny joke, mind you) I thought I misunderstood her. But then she started crying and I knew it was no joke. My aunt had just died. I completely flipped. I mean hyperventilating, uncontrollable sobs, the works. We buried her five days later.
She was and still is, an inspiration to me. She encouraged me to continue working on my artwork, she even sold it for me in her shop in Virginia. I would finish a piece, send her a picture and ask her opinion. And she was honest. If she thought something needed tweaking, she would tell me. And I valued her opinion more than anyone's. To this day, I miss that. I find that I have become even more of a critic of my own work, and I think to myself "What would Shirley think of this?". To be honest, since her death and up until about a month ago, I sort of went on a "hiatus" of sorts. I just didn't have it in me to get in to the studio and work. I would try and try and try, but after losing your inspiration, it's very hard.
On the one year anniversary (or a day early, rather) I want to share with you, some pictures, articles and memories of my Aunt Shirley. I want the rest of the world to know what a wonderful person she was, and what my family lost the day she died. Thank you for continuing to read, I know this is a little off track of my normal posts. But this is important for me and I thank you for your support.
My aunt was a funny lady. She was a fiery red head, with the personality to match. She was full of so much energy and life, it was infectious. She was smart, beautiful, funny and caring beyond belief. I remember as a little girl, she would take my sister and I for the weekend and spoil us rotten. She loved to curl our hair, take us shopping, etc...(she generally had shorter hair, and every time she came at us with that curling iron, I just waited to get burned...which my sister and I did on probably more than one occasion!)
She moved away when I was still a kid, so we didn't see her as much anymore. We did visit, and it was always full of places to visit, activities and such. That woman could draw up an itinerary like no one else.
She met Dr. Robert Woolfitt at a car show in Hershey, Pa. and in 2001 they married at my Aunts lake house. She then moved to Norfolk, Virginia. After some time there, she took over a boutique, re-vamped it a bit and opened shop under the name éclectique Melange. She sold high end shoes, jewelry and other accessories. I was able to visit her shop once, and let me tell you, it dripped with her style. It was amazing. Check it out.
Working hard!
Aside from owning the shop, my Aunt was also a milliner. If you don't know what that is, she basically made her own hats from scratch. They were gorgeous works of art too. She trained in London with Rose Cory, who was the late Queen Mother's milliner. She had started out embellishing hats with her own style, and then moved on to hand-making them from scratch. She was really good at it too. Had her own line and everything. Here are a few examples, with my aunt modeling her own handy work.
And some more...
This is my favorite. She looks so elegant and regal. That was her though.
She was also featured in a few articles in the local paper The Virginian-Pilot, for her shop work and her sense of style in general. There are also a couple after her death. Here are a few links, in case you want to check them out for yourself.
Get purse fix without losing your wallet - 5/10/2011 - This article came out just two days before she died.
Not only was she a milliner, but she was also a dressmaker. She made the fancy dresses she wore to the Opera events she attended. They were gorgeous dresses too. I don't know how she did it all. I can't even sew a whip stitch properly, let alone sew an entire gown!
My aunt was also an animal lover...more specifically cats (she's had Siamese cats around as far back as I can remember.) and dogs. She was a donor at the local SPCA, and she always had a few cats around the house. She even had her picture taken with her cats, I swear only my Aunt could pull this off without looking like the crazy cat lady!
My Aunt was also a very funny lady...(she is totally going to haunt me for this) she could belch like no one's business...it's a trait that all of us "Naile" ladies inherited and cultivated over many years... :) For as much of a lady as she was, she belched like a man. I loved that about her too, weird huh? She had this infectious smile, and a wicked sense of humor. I think sometimes she didn't mean for something to be humorous, but I would crack up just at the way she said something.
She always insisted on being called "Grand Aunt Shirl" by her great nieces. Something about it sounding better than "Great Aunt Shirley".... :) Again, that was just her... but, looking at it now, I think it fits her. She wasn't just great, she was grand in every way.
It is unfortunate that she never got to meet my nephew Alex. And it is even more unfortunate that he will never meet her. My sister was eight months pregnant with him when Shirley died.
So, there you have it. That is the short story about my beloved Aunt. I would never be able to fully capture her story here, you would never stop reading! Just know that she was much loved, for obvious reasons. I hope that you can see just how much she meant to me, and my entire family.
The below, is a poem I read at her funeral. The picture I took that is behind the wording is of the pendant we all wore (that my mother made in honor of her) and a flower from her casket.
I miss her so much. To this day, if I think too much about her, I still cry. I am not sure if the heartache will ever go away. I still have the last text message she sent me saved on my phone. It was four days before she died. It simply reads "Love ya kid." Even as I sit here and write this, I am fighting back tears that threaten to spill over. Her headstone sits in northern Indiana, and I can visit it in about 3 hours time. I need to do that soon and have a chat with her. Like her in life, her headstone is over the top and elegant. I am pretty sure she would have loved it.
Thank you so much for sticking with me through this post. It was a hard one for me to write. At the same time, it's so easy to talk about her and all of the "grand" things she was and did.
I hope everyone has a great weekend...
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