My Aunt Mary is in the hospital tonight… again. It appears to be for the final time. The family has been called. Death comes to all. At ninety-some years old, Aunt Mary has enjoyed a full and often blessed life. She is ready.
You should see the photos of her as a young woman. A raving beauty, she was. Dark-haired and rambunctious. Every boy in the county wanted to court her. She married young, left the hills of Appalachia and moved to Florida. And she never looked back.
Aunt Mary’s husband died when she was still in her thirties. He was older than she and a heavy smoker. Lung cancer got him. Mary never remarried, though. Nor did she even date, as far as I know. She had her little dog, Pinky, and a small garden. She worked for a veterinarian, she loved life and boy, howdy–that woman sure loved to eat, though she never gained an excess amount of weight. Aunt Mary is as slim and trim and beautiful tonight as she ever was. She will be missed on this Earth. Yes, she will.
May the angels carry you straight to Heaven’s gate, Aunt Mary. May the arms of the One who first loved you be there to welcome you home. May you soon rejoice around the table with those who went on before. Those of us who remain here as sojourners will join you when we can. Goodnight, Aunt Mary.
**Addendum: Aunt Mary passed on this morning, June 24th, at 0901 EST. She will be missed.
SmileySunrise says
Hi Don. It’s been quite a while since I visited your site, and today I see this post about your dear aunt. May our precious Heavenly Father be with your aunt, and all the family, during this time of special need, and may He surround you all with His Presence and comfort and strength. I trust all is well for you and your family. All is well in Him!!!
Greg Beamer says
I was looking for Paul Potts information and came upon your site – and took a wonderful journey through your beautiful writing about your dear aunt. It is amazing to me that God can take someone’s hand and create in a paragraph or two a snapshot of someone’s life that will leave a lasting memory to a total stranger. It is obvious that you loved her deeply. Thanks for sharing, and I am certain that she was nodding her approval of your work from her new home in heaven.
Don says
Thank you, Greg. I very much appreciate your kindness. Aunt Mary was something. There is much more that could be said. She was outspoken, but not mean and her laugh was like music. My cousin was with her, the night before she passed on, and she told me that Aunt Mary sat straight up in bed, looked up and said, “I want Mommy.” All the girls called their mother “Mommy”, even after they were grown. It could be that Mary and my grandmother are walking and talking right now. Personally, I want them both…
Re. Paul Potts, this site used to carry numerous posts about him, but they were lost when I clumsily tried to move from one host to another (and almost quit blogging altogether.) Folks are still interested in Paul’s saga (as am I), so I’m thinking that I should try to resurrect as many of those stories as I can. Your note has helped me to get a move on with that.