My Aunt Gertie died on December 6th at the age of almost 91. She is the last of my father's siblings to pass away, so now both my parents have no living brothers or sisters.

 

She was my last surviving aunt.

 

I did not have grandparents. I was not even 5 years old when they were all gone. But my parents were each the youngest of five children so I had plenty of wonderful and loving aunts and uncles who were like "substitute" grandparents.

 

Aunts and Uncles are great. No baggage, no issues, no responsibilities. They cheer you on, happy to see you always and save the baggage and issues for their own kids. What a joy! How I will miss that!

 

My parents are both living and are now the last surviving aunt and uncle of all my cousins. My parents are everyone's "Aunt Rose and Uncle Joe". No baggage, no issues, no responsibilities. Even friends used to call them that because my cousins and I used to hang out together. At my parents' 60th wedding anniversary, my cousin said that "everyone needs an Aunt Rose and Uncle Joe". And so everyone does.

 

How extraordinarily blessed I am to still have my parents at age 89 and 88. Yet I feel somehow gypped at having no "Aunt Rose or Uncle Joe". So Aunt Gertie, I will take my memories, all the more bittersweet because you were my last, and treasure them because all I had to do was show up.

 

My New Year's message to you is to show up.