The two people in the photo looked at me, as I looked at them.
Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe it wasn't.
Yesterday, I was watering my houseplants. I have a table near one window sill. While watering, a picture caught my eye. It was a picture of two people. To be exact, it was a photo of my spouse's aunt, who died last year at the age of 107, and her younger son, who died unexpectedly in December of 2018, at the age of 72. He lived with his parents all his life, and took care of his Mom in her old age.
The photo was taken at the birthday party when she turned 106. Someone had thoughtfully written that on the back. That day was proclaimed her day in Yonkers, New York, where she lived almost all her life.
And then there was another photo, just the aunt alone, and the writing on the back indicated it was taken January 25, 2019, the day she turned 107.
Yesterday would have been her 108th birthday.
Was it a coincidence that these photos were suddenly on that table yesterday? I'd like to think so.
I used to call my spouse's aunt a "human wormhole", a link to our past, through her memories. She was born three months before the Titanic sank. She lived through the 1918 "Spanish flu" epidemic. She worked in a bomb sight factory during World War II. She studied opera and had many talents I wasn't even aware of until her final years. Spouse and I last saw her in March of last year, and dementia had taken her - yet, right before we left, she suddenly recognized me.
Now this woman, and her memories, have been gone almost a year.
Happy belated birthday in heaven to you.
Day 26 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.
Welcome! I hope I bring a spot of calm and happiness into these uncertain times. I blog about flowers, gardening, my photography adventures, the importance of chocolate in a well lived life, or anything else on my mind.
Sunday, January 26, 2020
7 comments:
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What a remarkable woman, Alana! What history and memories. Happy 108th to your aunt in heaven
ReplyDeleteShe sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing lady and so many wonderful memories to hold in your heart. My mom's birthday was also the 25th, she would have been 99 this year. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her.
ReplyDeleteWow! What a great woman! A real Centenarian!
ReplyDeleteI bet she had amazing stories after seeing first hand so much of what we now call history.
ReplyDeleteYes ... amazing co-incidence ... her son must have been devastated when his mother died ... what an incredible story. With thoughts - Hilary
ReplyDeleteIt is a sad remembrance. Funny how coincidences remind us of dates like this.
ReplyDelete