Aww, thank you everyone - @geekorner, @ellievallie, @negativer, @raj808, @caleblailmusic, @jayna, and @motherof2chicks, for all the kinds words, and taking time to read this. (Thanks also to the mysterious @Curie committee for the generous upvotes!)

I phoned her today, right before I saw your comment @geekorner. She's one of those people who don't do phone calls. (Everyone in my family has an aversion to phones.) She has no internet, no cell phone, no desire ever to be bothered with that stuff. Visitors are terrifying. Her own great-granddaughter coming? Anxiety alert! My dad's sister ... well, I meant to save that for Part 2, if in fact I ever write it. Aunt Malita has been gone for 26 years, yet I still can hardly "go there" even in fiction. (Don't get me started on chimeras.)
I used to think growing up in such isolation on a farm in the Midwest made me sound so mediocre, but the older I get, the more extraordinary I realize my upbringing was. Today, we are an endangered species.
Thanks again everyone for the kind words.