Like most of Joan’s problems, this one derives from two incongruent points of goodwill. On holidays, Joan receives packages from her sweetest, loneliest aunt. The aunt has fake teeth, glamorous penmanship, and a fondness for disabled pets. She dyes her hair crimson and always smells like baby powder. She is Joan’s favorite relative. In her most honest moments—after two glasses of red blend, or during hot thunderstorms—Joan will admit that she prefers this aunt to her own mother, who was so afraid of dying she could hardly live, and also to her own father, who ate his way to premature death.
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