Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Life's Lessons

This afternoon I have to go with my Aunt's Step-Son to the mortuary and make arrangements and sign papers. Aunt Edna was so good about making everything so easy for others when she possibly could.  And she taught lessons to the very end.

These last couple of days have been days of reflection on her life.  She made it to 99 and a half years old.  She collected so many friends through the years, but most of her good friends she outlived. She was of the era of letters.  In her diaries, she mentions almost every day letters that she has sent off and those she has received.  I compare it with emails but much longer and with more detail.  Some letters she kept through the years.....how many emails will you want to last as long as you?

She had lots of childhood friends that she kept in touch with through all the adventures of life.
Growing up, marrying, moving across the country and just time, can get in the way and wither a friendship, but her and her friends kept in touch and held each close through life.

Just a story about some of her childhood friends.....
Aunt Edna and Uncle John had bought a motorhome that they were planning to drive around the country.  They had lots of additions, like extra air conditioning, added and so it took quite a while before the motor home was ready for them to take home.  When they were bringing it home my uncle asked Aunt Edna what she would do with the motorhome if he died.  And she told him she would probably get some little old lady friends of hers and take some trips.

Well, wouldn't you know, Uncle John had a massive heart attack that same night and passed away.

Aunt Edna did do some traveling in that motorhome.  She went up to Canada to visit relatives.  She took me up to Dead Man's Creek, up in the Sierras for a few days of re-living summers with Uncle John when they camped there and fished.   And she took her 90 year old mother and me off half-way across the country to her childhood land of Iowa and Nebraska.  We had quite the adventures.  Then Grandma and I flew back to California and Aunt Edna picked up a couple of gals she had gone to elementary school with, and off they went, the rest of the way across to the East Coast.  And they visited a bunch of their friends along the way.  They were all pushing 70, and they all had a ball!


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