Au Revoir Auntie Irene

My father was an only child so I had no aunts or uncles from his side of the family.

Mum was one of eight.  She had one sister (Kate) who died of tetanus poisoning way back when, long before I was born.

Her youngest brother Albert was killed in Normandy in August 1944.

From her five surviving brothers I had five aunts by marriage, one of whom I met only once.

I knew the other Aunts a bit but did not know them well, all except for Irene.  May her memory be a blessing.

Auntie Irene was always my favourite. She came to the U.S.A, from the U.K. maybe four or five times to see me, and to see her dear niece by birth Catherine  (Kippy) on Staten Island. We both adored her.

Irene began a long journey into dementia.  When she could no longer take care of herself my cousins were able to secure her a place in a quite lovely "care home" in our native city of Bristol, U.K.

Auntie Irene died today at age ninety three.

I saw her last year (2017) in that care home.  She did not know me but that does not matter.  I knew her!

Of course I am sad, but I am not in deep grief. There is, as the biblical book of Ecclesiastes says, a time to die.

So please, I do not need or want messages of sympathy. Simply join with me in saying thank goodness for the life and love of my beloved Aunt.

P.S. I am deeply aware that apart from my two older sisters and my twin sister I have known Irene for all of my life,  from the time when memories begin to form ( at aged three or four).