My lovely Aunt A. died last weekend. She died in her sleep, suddenly and unexpectedly. She was 71 years old. Her brother, my dad, died last year. He was 75. Now my Aunt F., another lovely woman, has no siblings remaining. A. was a sweet woman. She had a very interesting "fuzzy" voice. She was optimistic and forward-looking, and met challenges with vim and verve. She married very young and had one child, then divorced her husband within the year. Rather than moldering away, she moved back in with her parents and threw herself into work. When her son went to school, she did to, getting a degree in accounting. She and I were very close when I was an adolescent/teenager. She introduced me to so much--we all piled into her car and went off to the Grand Canyon when I was 12 or 14. I remember clambering over the rocks on the edge of the canyon with my cousin K., who was ALMOST A GROWNUP! I also remember cousin K. losing Aunt A.'s car keys in the canyon. Not like dropping them in the woods type losing, keys falling out of pocket into the canyon type losing. So we got an extra few days of camping there while a new key was rushed to Aunt A. For one glorious season, Aunt A. got me season tickets to the Chicago Lyric Opera. We would pile into her car, go to a fancy restaurant downtown, then go to the opera. It was a fantastic experience. A few years ago, she had a heart bypass operation. Something went wrong afterwards. She had a stroke. This amazing woman fought back, regained her ability to speak, and kept on keeping on, traveling with her husband to World Cup competitions, painting, doing all her previous things as best she could. Then her husband died. Once again, she kept on keeping on, visiting all her grandchildren, traveling on excursions of her own, and sending out a yearly letter to all & sundry describing her adventures. This last year, she greeted her first great-grandchild, cousin K.'s daughter's son. What a lovely life. What a peaceful way to go. May we all do the same. Categories: [Family]