another month, another death?

at least that's how it seems sometimes.

ben and i went out for dinner (his treat) and a movie (each paid for our own) tonight... the movie of choice was "mr. and mrs. smith" which i fairly well enjoyed... not that you couldn't have written out the basic plot from start to finish from the previews, but i enjoyed it nonetheless :-P

anyhow, i got a voicemail during the movie... it was my mom calling to tell me that great aunt marie had died. uncle art (who died 3 weeks ago) was grandma p.'s little brother. aunt marie was g-ma s.'s little sister. so here's g-ma, trapped in a nursing home, and her sister, 10 years younger than her had a several years battle with cancer but died peacefully and basically still completely herself at home.

the thing that gets to me is, i knew uncle art reasonably well and had good stories to tell about him, etc., and the news of his death hit me like a punch to the stomach but i didn't cry. i've never once met aunt marie in all my life, just regular letters from her at all the holidays, special life events, etc. (like the card she wrote me for valpo graduation was incredibly sweet about how proud she was of me and how much my great-grandma (hers and g-ma s.'s mom) would have been of me... lots of detail on those thoughts)... just very calm, peaceful, kind people, only they were almost always just staying put in wisconsin, and grandma's branch of the family (us) was all everywhere else, having our big get-togethers in pittsburgh, so other than mail we never crossed paths much. anyhow, the point being, i know this woman solely through letters, and have a great respect for her, but while i couldn't cry for uncle art, here i've been on the brink of tears or crying for the past couple hours for a great aunt i've never met... i soooo don't understand emotions.

here's to kind and faithful people, whose reach and whose witness to their values and their faith is farther reaching than they'll ever know.... i'm glad to have known aunt marie, even if it was only in the snail mail world, and i know she went peacefully and is now joyfully cancer-free in heaven.

the end. (obituary to be added if/when i find one online later this week)