Mourning and Celebraion

Traveling to the cemetery way out in the wilds to bury my baby sister, her being the last of my family, leaving me as the only child living out of a family of sixteen , is something we need to do, but there will be sadness. There is though the blessing of knowing she is with our Blessed Savior makes it easier to bear and much to be thankful for. Last year we traveled to the same cemetery to bury another sister, dug the grave and placed her ashes into the ground, had a short service, covered her grave, consoled her daughter and left her there with my parents and another sister, who had been buried many years before. So different now. Used to be the funeral director took care of these things sparing the family of that kind of involvement. Seems more personal this way, digging the ground, thinking of the good times and blessings as memories spill over into sharing things long forgotten as the years have gone by. It's a good thing to be this closely involved.

Then we go on to my cousin's ninetieth birthday celebration at Engadine, a very small town not too far from the grave sites. This cousin has become very special to me because we share family memories very special to both of us. She is my second cousin. All the first cousins are gone and I am the only one left from my generation although many of the second cousins are older than I. What do you give a ninety year old, who is happy with her life and wants for nothing, content with what she has and who she is. I wll give her a card thanking her for the times we've had together, the memories we've shared and that we have kept the family alive in our hearts and been able to share with the younger members of our families what a blessing families are and how important it is to keep family memories alive. Jessie, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!