My Aunt passed away early this morning. She had been ill for several years now, with leukemia and some other forms of cancer. I just heard via an e-mail from my father, who was her brother. Both my mother and father come from families that were smaller than the norm for their era, they each had one sibling. Since my mother and her brother are estranged, my Aunt is really the only Aunt that I’ve known for about 30 years. She divorced, the only one in my family ever to divorce, at a relatively young age. She has a son, who survives her, and a boyfriend, who she’s been with for around 25 years or so, but they never would marry or live together.
Marilyn was a very beautiful woman in her day. She modelled for a while, then worked as a cashier at Santa Anita racetrack and sold real estate. I think she was moderately successful and made and lost money like others in the Tech boom. She loved to eat sushi, Chinese and other ethnic foods. She always loved animals, and last time we visited, about a year ago, they had a large basenji/German shepherd mix, a cat and a large parrot. She was a wisp of the woman that I’d known at the time, never a large person to begin with.
But her heart was always large. She spoiled and doted on her son, who was the light of her life. She stayed close to her mother her whole life. Like many American families the rest of us are dispersed across the country, and so we haven’t been as close as could be.
I didn’t put this here to look for electronic hugs or condolences. I don’t feel I need any right now. Just a way to spread the word about the passing of a sweet person, in my way a rememberance.
When I was younger, I had an aunt like this. I felt kind of guilty that I didn’t get upset when she passed (I was in fourth grade). We knew for a while that she had been sick, but I also never felt like she left me when she died. It always just felt like she was around. There are times when I’m puttering about the house that I can feel her there, or some item or story comes back to the surface and I feel as if she has put these things in the path of my everyday life like little gifts for me to find.
Much like this thread. (Hi Tante Mathilde!)
When I was younger, I had an aunt like this. I felt kind of guilty that I didn’t get upset when she passed (I was in fourth grade). We knew for a while that she had been sick, but I also never felt like she left me when she died. It always just felt like she was around. There are times when I’m puttering about the house that I can feel her there, or some item or story comes back to the surface and I feel as if she has put these things in the path of my everyday life like little gifts for me to find.
Much like this thread. (Hi Tante Mathilde!)
thank you for sharing your aunt with us.
i’ll keep y’all in my thoughts and prayers.
My thoughts are with you, Shibb. Best wishes to both you and your aunt. It sounds like she was a person who enjoyed life, and there’s nothing wrong with appreciating that.
My condolences, Shibb.
Your aunt sounds like one of those people who touch our lives just by being…well, THEM! A woman ahead of her time, who lived her life the best she could and didn’t mess around with what people THOUGHT she “should” do. She sounds awesome.
And even though you don’t want them, you may need them once the initial knowledge sinks in. So…prayers and positive thoughts coming your way. And hugs, too.
Much Love,
Cheri