Hi, I'm Joan Axelrod-Contrada, and this is my story about how Auntie Deli became my feminist role model! I grew up with a mother who was a traditional suburban housewife. Mom always seemed a little bored and depressed. Once I was in the car with Mom when she stopped at a gas station and signed the receipt, Mrs. Maynard Axelrod. Why didn't she use her own first name? She told me that only divorced women sign their names that way. The only times mom really lit up were when her older sisters came to town. Mom's sisters bore an uncanny resemblance to the girls in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Adele Hurwitz, my auntie Deli, was Jo, the adventurous one. She had an exciting career as a nursing executive and was a feminist long before anyone had ever heard the word. She represented the American Nurses Association at the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Auntie Deli traveled the world, first as the Executive Director of the International Council of Nurses, and then as the founder of a new organization in Philadelphia that credentialed international nurses to practice in the US. As a teenager and young woman, I got into journalism, a field that called for just the kind of curiosity and adventurous spirit that Auntie Deli represented to me from an early age. Interviewer: And in what ways would you say your Auntie Deli was adventurous and inspiring to you? Joan: Well, Auntie Deli once told me she wasn't a beige type of woman. She loved the color turquoise, which is why I'm wearing turquoise today. And she decorated her apartments in a striking combination of turquoise, red, and black. She was such a strong career woman that everyone in the family worried that she'd be miserable when she retired. Instead, though, Auntie Deli thrived in retirement, moving to Brookline Massachusetts to be near her sisters. he enrolled in Harvard's Program for Learning and Retirement, took up watercolor painting, went to movies at the Coolidge Corner Cinema, and joined the League of Women Voters. She also took a real interest in my career, my husband, and my kids. Interviewer: Do you have any other fond memories of Auntie Deli that were your favorite? Joan: Yeah, Auntie Deli founded a holiday that we called Aunt's Day, in which she took the entire family out to eat. And she made every outing an adventure. Once she gave Fred the kids and me each $20 to get whatever we wanted at Trader Joe's, she turned a shopping trip into a true scavenger hunt. She used to say, it's one thing to put yourself first, it's something else to put yourself first, second, third, and fourth. I use that line often on my kids to get them to distinguish between legitimate self-care and being inconsiderate to all the rest of us. I'm trying to live this last third of my life with a spirit of adventure that Auntie Deli represented to me. And like her, I consider myself a lifelong learner. And I'm currently working on a collection of essays called ‘Rock On! A Baby Boomer's Playlist for Life After Loss’. And I plan to dedicate the book to my Auntie Deli.