Millie Morrison

Millie Morrison
Basic Information
Full Name	Mildred Weaver Morrison
Series Data
First Appearance	Happy Birthday, Kit!
Family Relationships
Husband	Birch Morrison
Friends or Other Relationships
Other Personal Relationships	Jack Kittredge (fictive kin and ward)

Mildred Morrison is a fictive kin great-aunt of Kit Kittredge.

Personality and Facts

Millie--also known by her family as Aunt Millie--is an elderly woman who lives in Kentucky in a rural area called Mountain Hollow. She and her late husband, Birch, raised Jack Kittredge after his parents died when he was young and were the only family that Jack knew. Aunt Millie is not a blood relative to the Kittredges; in fact, Margaret Kittredge finds it very countrified to call Millie "aunt" at all and instead calls her Miss Mildred. However, much like Auntie Lula and Uncle Solomon, she is what is known as fictive kin. She always refers to Kit by her full name, Margaret Mildred, and has a twangy Kentucky accent.

Due to living in Mountain Hollow, Millie has lots of "countrified" ways. She is practical and not ashamed of her thrifty ways; she knows how to find a use for anything, from flour sacks to old sheets. Rather than buying new, she shows how to repair what is present--such as resewing worn sheets, turning the collars and cuffs of shirts to hide frayed parts, lengthening pants with pockets, patching clothes, and darning socks; this inspires Kit to make Aunt Millie's Waste-Not, Want-Not Almanac. She is also skilled at planning parties with what is available, such as for Margaret's garden party and Kit's tenth birthday. She is thrifty so as to be more generous. In Cincinnati she's able to negotiate discounted food with the butcher (who is also from Kentucky) and buy discounted food at the grocer. She tells Kit that being poor is nothing to be ashamed of, given that many others are as well. She is a big fan of FDR and his wife, Eleanor. She likes to do two things at once, such as sewing while listening to the radio.

Aunt Millie is very energetic, quirky, and lively. She is known for being forward and frank and has very clever ways to save money. Aunt Millie is very practical and can be strict, but loves Kit, her family, and all her friends very much. Aunt Millie is good at bringing the best and greatest potential out of people, according to Kit. Kit notes that she's the only person who's praised her for her appearance or called her pretty, and she says that Stirling Howard will likely be handsome once he grows into his voice, ears, and elbows. She is highly educated and was the teacher in Mountain Hollow from the time her husband died until the school closed in May 1933; she quotes Shakespeare and poetry quite often and also enjoys fairy and folk tales. She (until Happy Birthday Kit) had never visited Cincinnati, saying it has too many people and not enough animals. No one can make Jack laugh like her. She is a Cincinnati Reds fan.

Millie has multiple personal connections; she knows and gets along with most people in Mountain Hollow, is confident enough with the town banker to talk him into getting her funds out after hours, and knew the conductor of a train headed back to Cincinnati which got him to let Ruthie Smithens and Charlie Kittredge to board, even late in the evening.

In the Books

Happy Birthday, Kit!: A Springtime Story

It is mentioned that Millie sent the Kittredges money to help them pay their mortgage; if she hadn't, they would have been evicted right after Christmas. Millie comes to visit the Kittredges as a surprise. On a Saturday morning, Kit is holding a pile of laundry when she hears a knock on the front door and opens it to find Aunt Millie. Kit drops the pile of laundry and rushes into her aunt's arms for a hug. Millie exclaims that Kit has grown much taller since she saw Kit the previous July. She also calls Kit "the prettiest child there ever was." Millie says she didn't tell anyone she was coming- she simply decided to come and "blow in on the breeze like a bug." She asks about the rest of the Kittredge family, and Kit explains that Mr. Kittredge and and Charlie are busy cleaning out the garage. They have so many boarders that they need the garage for storage.

Millie puts her suitcase and basket in a corner and hangs up her clothes on a hook in the hall, and then she immediately gets to work helping Kit with the laundry. She comments that they have plenty of time to visit with the family after they start their work, and if they wait, they'll miss the best sunshine. Kit thinks that Aunt Millie doesn't waste anything, even sunshine.

Trivia

• Millie can be seen as a character foil to Hendrick Frosbythe; she is of rural background and while not extremely wealthy, has multiple connections and a friendly demeanor and is thrifty to be more generous with what she has. Meanwhile Hendrick--while of prestige and financially well off--has almost no personal connections and is miserly and stingy.