~thank you Aunt Beck~

I lost my Aunt Beck last evening.  

She died at the age of 103 and was the last of a generation of folks that have meant the world to me.  Rebecca was my mom's sister and her passing marks the end of a long line of aunts and uncles who helped to shape my life and mold me into the person that I was meant to be all along.  Those dear people were God's instruments and messengers here on earth in the refinement of a young girl named Peggy, and I was fortunate to have kept this last one of them for so very long.

I loved her and will miss her dearly.

It is so strange how things turn out in this life of ours.  Just a couple of days ago, the kids in my class had an historical fiction selection in their readers.  In the story, a little girl has to go and live with her uncle during the Great Depression.  It tells of how she bonded  with the uncle she never knew that she had.  At the end of the story, those hard times in American history were over and she returned home to her own parents.  I asked the kids to think about which of their relatives they would choose to live with, if that were ever necessary.  With big grins on their faces, they one by one told of someone and gave a litany of reasons as to why they were the best pick.

When they were done, I told them about my Aunt Beck and if it would have been necessary to choose, she would definitely have been the one I would live with.  When I was their age, I remember going to Aunt Beck's house to supper one night.  I guess she might have been our babysitter for the evening.  At suppertime, I was shocked to see how it would be that we ate our evening meal.  We were actually allowed to eat from a "tv tray", a new fangled contraption that I had never seen before.  The really cool thing was that on our trays there were 3 glasses of things to drink.  One was water, another milk, and the final one had something in it that I had never experienced yet.

It was a glass of soda pop.
Imagine that! 

My faint memory of the very first birthday gift I received came at age 4.  It was a pink and sparkly rubber bouncing ball.  It was just the right size for my little hands.  Aunt Beck was the one who gave it to me and even though I often lose my keys or cell phone these days, I still recall that sweet gift bestowed unto me now 57 years ago.  

Perhaps it is the little things.

I always was close to her.  When I got married 3 years ago and left Kansas, I vowed that I would make it a point to come back and see her every time that I was home.  I kept that promise faithfully. Often times our visits were with her sitting in her recliner and me kneeling on the floor beside her.  I wanted to be as close to her as I could and we would hold hands with one another as we remembered the wonderful days of yore.  Holding hands with Aunt Beck was just like holding hands with my own mom.

Her eyesight was going but she could still see me well enough to tell me that I looked like my mother.  I would laugh and smile back, telling her that I had seen it myself lately and that sometimes it was a little unsettling.  She said something to me about that subject that I will always remember in my heart.

"Well Peggy Ann, I think that looking like your mom is a very nice thing.  I don't miss her so much when I can see you in her place."

And so ok.  I look like my mom.  

The last time we saw one another was a just a few months back and I had every intention of going over to see her this weekend upcoming when Mike and I went back to Kansas.  I had called her a couple of weeks ago to check on her and see how things were going.  I told her that I would see her soon and she said what she always did to me about that.

"That will be just fine!  I probably will be here."

I will see her this weekend, but not at her home.  On Sunday morning before we come back home to Texas, I'll visit her final resting place where all of the other family is laid as well.  I'm sad for me, but very happy for her.  As is the case with most elders, they are more than ready to go "home".  

I don't blame them.  
Some day I will be at that point in time as well.

I believe that she is in Heaven now and I know that one day I will see her again.  In the meantime, I give thanks for every special memory I made with her in my own life and will hold each of them close to my heart.  I'm thankful that I went to see her every chance that I could.  I knew that I would not regret it if I did.

I definitely would have regretted it if I had not.

                            Thank you Aunt Beck~