aunty

My Uncle's wife died thurs 14 sept in New Zealand. She outlived my uncle who died back in 1989. They had her family service last week. I found out recently that none of my aunties or uncles spoke at her service. This is very sad because in my family, at least one person needs to get up and speak to represent our family.

It made me wish even more that I was there. I couldn't go but I desperately wanted to go to be with my cousins. I have been waiting for the busyness of the funeral preparations and family visitors to be over so I can ring them again and see how they are coping.

I just assumed my mother would say something because she knew Aunty best. And she made a special trip back down to Wellington when she found out she had taken a turn for the worse.

If I had been there I would have said this:

Aunty was someone who spoke her mind and didn't try to hide her feelings. She was a strong woman and reminded me of all my mother's sisters who are also very strong.

She was a no nonsense kind of person - what you saw was what you got with her. If she thought you were a naughty child, she let you know, so all the little ones in our family were very scared of her. That always made me laugh because no one messed with her.

She was always good to me and I thank her for that. I use to wonder what it was about her that captured my uncle enough for him to marry her. I loved my uncle. He was someone I always admired and respected. Actually he commanded respect so you never messed with him. He was the kind of person that you always had to speak the truth to because you knew he would know it anyway. It was the same with my Aunty.

Maybe that's what captured him. Here was someone who was his equal, someone without pretence, someone strong. For me, the greatest compliment I could pay my Aunty was that she was my Uncle's wife. I always thought she had to be an amazing woman to catch my uncle.

My cousins said that she was with the LORD the last few days of her life so they are confident she is now enjoying eternity with our loved ones. What a reunion that will be!