Tonight I am grateful for traveling mercies. My sister Sandy and I have returned safely from a family reunion from my father’s side of the family. It was a long weekend and a long trek of over 1200 miles and as we drove we received word that one of my aunts from my mother’s side of the family had died. I’d had no idea that she’d been seriously ill and the news hit me like a ton of bricks. Having just returned from a family reunion I was invigorated with questions I wanted to ask my aunt as one of two remaining elders in my family. Now that particular set of questions will go unanswered.
I would like to write a fitting tribute to my aunt in gratitude for who she was in my life, but I find that my thoughts are a bit scattered at the moment. So many memories come flooding in of my mother’s younger sister: scrabble games, cherries and church camp, a million-dollar smile and a genuine chuckle that would tickle your own funny bone til you couldn’t help laughing along with her. She’d also spank my little butt with a wooden spoon if things got out of hand, but more often than not she loved me up afterward.
I cannot adequately describe in this moment how grateful I am for my Aunt Jeanne; it’s still settling in that she’s gone. I am hopeful that in the days to come I’ll be better able to offer a coherent expression of my love for her and gratitude for who she was in my life. In the days ahead, many people whose lives she touched will offer wonderful tributes to her for all the work she did in her church, on behalf of the poor, during her time as a nurse, out in the community, and she was all that and much more. But to me she was a beloved aunt who, no matter how old I was or how big I got would still snuggle me and love me up and tell me everything would be alright. Aunt Jeanne did indeed have a million dollar smile. Tonight its brilliance is lighting up heaven.
