Fond farewells
Found out tonight that my aunt passed away last Tuesday. She's my mother's cousin...not exactly sure if that makes her my aunt, aunt once or twice removed, or second cousin, or what. But, she was fairly close to us so therefore she was always called Aunt.
It was this Aunt I did a good share of my "growing up" with...that is, she treated me as a young adult and not a kid, spoke to me as if I were an intelligent being, and encouraged my creative outlets even when my parents didn't know I had any. I would spend several weeks each summer at her house in New Jersey, which was in "the country" to me. She was probably the only person to ask me deep questions- my opinions, my thoughts, my feelings on various matters- things my parents would never dream of discussing with me and probably still don't know my stand on.
She hadn't been doing all that well in recent months, due to her long bout with Lupus. In a way, it is comforting to know she will not be in pain any more.
It was this Aunt I did a good share of my "growing up" with...that is, she treated me as a young adult and not a kid, spoke to me as if I were an intelligent being, and encouraged my creative outlets even when my parents didn't know I had any. I would spend several weeks each summer at her house in New Jersey, which was in "the country" to me. She was probably the only person to ask me deep questions- my opinions, my thoughts, my feelings on various matters- things my parents would never dream of discussing with me and probably still don't know my stand on.
She hadn't been doing all that well in recent months, due to her long bout with Lupus. In a way, it is comforting to know she will not be in pain any more.