"Please put your shoes by the door," Aunt Helga said in her shrill voice that grated on my nerves...

Every summer it was customary to make several visits to Aunt Helga's house and every summer Amanda dreaded each one. There was just too much going on back at home to uproot her life for the isolation and frustration of Aunt Helga. Aunt Helga was strict and lived every moment of her life controlled by some rule which Amanda couldn't understand. Since her uncle passed away four years ago, Helga lived alone. Not only alone, but she pretty much kept to herself. Someone as young as Amanda just couldn't understand that side of grief, or what Helga was going through. To Amanda, it was just old age and crazy rituals. To Helga, it was a way to control something in her life which seemed to be slipping by her all to fast. Helga was excited to have Amanda around, she just didn't show it very well.