Remembering Aunty

Today was a tough day. I found out last night that my Aunty Alice passed away this week. The funeral was today, and my Dad and I attended. My husband came too. We have our ups and downs, and lately they've been epic, but at times like these he's my Rock.

Aunty Alice was the only sibling of my Mom. I lost my Mom 23 years ago. She didn't have much family. Aunty Alice was 14 years older than my Mom so they weren't day-to-day close. But they shared great loss. Aunty Alice lost her Dad when she was very young. Their Mom died when my Mom was 14 and Aunty Alice was 28. Their Mom got very ill with cancer when my Mom was around 7. By the time my Mom was 9 her Mom was in a sanitarium where she stayed until her death.

Aunty Alice had 5 children. 2 daughters and 3 sons. The elder daughter was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer at a young age. She was trying to figure out how to tell her parents she was dying when her younger sister was killed in a single vehicle accident. Both left three small children. And shattered my Aunty. She was always an anxious person, but that year left her with anxiety and depression that no medicine could touch.

Yet, you never saw her without a smile, as the picture above can attest. Like my Mom, she had a faith that nothing could budge, she had intelligence, kindness, and light. She was a last female connection to my Mom.

I called her one day a few years ago to chat. I told her I was knitting a scarf out of pink and white variegated yarn. Turns out, she was knitting a scarf out of pink and white variegated yarn too. We had a good chuckle and agreed that "great minds really do think alike."

I have a letter she wrote to my Mom when I was born. In it she tells my Mom how thrilled she is that my Mom finally had a girl. The letter is filled with joy and hope and love. For my Mom and for me. I cherish it. And I'm so glad she was in my life.