Aunts and Uncles

Well - my friend at work just lost her uncle. She has been watching over him since her aunt died and was watching over both of them before that. It reminds me of when Mary Lynn and I were taking care of Dorothy and Bernice. So I thought in tribute to all our aunts and uncles who we have loved and cared for I would write about my aunts Dorothy and Bernice.

Even though it was a very long time and it was a very difficult time we were the ones filled with blessings when we cared for the two aunts. My cousin, Mary Lynn took care of the bills and the caregivers (thank God - because she had to fire one of them - I told her I got the calls at 2 am to go to the hospital and she just had to be the one to fire the one we didn't want!)

When I would get a call at 2 am from the hospital because Aunt Bernice was being very difficult I would laugh at the nurse that was calling and tell her I would come right away but I may not be much help! And sure enough I would make the matter worse. My aunt used to hallucinate sometimes from her drugs and I also think because her electrolytes were so off - this time she was seeing her beloved dead sisters, my Mom and my Aunt Dorothy at the end of the hall - pointing at her and laughing. I bent down to look at her and lovingly told her they would not do that, they both loved her, well she was not happy with me telling her she wasn't seeing something and she kicked me out of the room. I apologized to the nurse, told her to give her a sleeping pill and went home. The next morning when I went in she was nice as pie.

All through our lives, our two aunts always were there for us. They lived with and cared for our Grandma Brandi all through her life. We would visit every holiday - and Aunt Dorothy would take our pictures - When Aunt Dorothy died every family had a picture of every single year.

When my Mom was sick, my aunts who lived across the hall from her, stopped in every day to see if everything was okay. When I was all consumed with the care of my Mom, they thought about me. It was very touching and much needed to a weary soul.

After my Mom died and before they both needed my care, I went over to their house once a week for tea. They would ask about my job, my family, and they truly cared about my life. They would tell such delicious stories of world travel and being in charge of an office and all about living through difficult times and wars where their brothers were fighting - they loved that I was a secretary and would want to hear about all the new technology in the office. It was such a blessing to have those two aunts in our family.

Now - not to leave out my uncles - they also lived across and down the hall from my Mom - I loved seeing them too. They both had families of their own. I would love to have them stop by to see me and to catch me up on their families. Uncle Lawrence was always reserved and sweet and such a snazzy dresser. Every pleat was ironed on his pants and he loved to help Aunt Dorothy with hems on dresses and pants (his father was a tailor and Uncle Lawrence took such pride in his clothes). Uncle Jerry reminded me of my Dad and I loved having him tell me about my cousins. He was always going on a walk or stopping by on his way out. One time we were having a luncheon over at the aunties before anyone got sick and they all told wonderful stories. I remember Uncle Lawrence saying, "Really, I don't remember that!" to many of the stories and Uncle Jerry laughing so hard he was shaking at some of the stories. It was an afternoon I would treasure.

I love being an aunt. I always say it is my favorite job. As a mother and grandmother - you still have to do some discipline - but as an aunt - well - all you do is LOVE them - we have great nieces and nephews on both sides of our family and we feel so blessed to be part of their lives. One of the reasons I love blogging is that many of them have blogs and we stay close to their lives by reading their blogs. Wherever they are in the world, we get a chance to hear what they are doing and be a part of it. The ones that have married have married wonderful spouses and we gained more nieces and nephews through those marriages - It's fun.

So, here's to you, my aunts and uncles, much love and good thoughts sent on their way to Heaven to all of you.