A Return and A Farewell

I have not posted here in 2017. During these months away, I have been fighting cancer, including two surgeries, months of chemotherapy, and five weeks of radiation therapy. This year has challenged me and my family. Nevertheless, the treatments have been effective, and now I rejoice that there is no evidence of disease. I'm working on regaining my strength and stamina and returning to most of my favorite activities.

This post marks my return to the blog.

Tomorrow is All Souls' Day. With that in mind I would like to reflect once more on my dear Aunt Grace, about whom I wrote in my first blog post.

We said farewell to Aunt Grace in mid-September of this year. She had fallen and broken her hip, and just never regained her mobility. Many of you have watched this happen with your own family members, as they gradually fade away.

 Aunt Grace blessed us all in those final weeks and days, true to her name and nature. My sister and one of my cousins met in Annandale to visit Aunt Grace in mid-August. By this time, she was receiving in-home hospice care and her bed was in the living room, where she could participate in daily life. We arrived at her front door and called out to her that the party was coming in. I could hear her unmistakable and infectious laugh, though it was more feeble than usual. We climbed the stairs up to the main level and there she was, sitting up in bed and watching television. The three of us sat down and enjoyed nearly two hours of conversation and reminiscing with her before she tired and we left. She took particular interest in hearing about how my sister and I were going to South Carolina to watch the total eclipse with my daughter and son. In 1970, our families had watched another total eclipse together at her house in Portsmouth, and Aunt Grace remembered it vividly.

We knew that when we said goodbye it would most likely be the last time. Yet we did not part in tears. Aunt Grace's body had nearly finished its race, leaving her gaunt and nearly helpless, but the sparkle of her personality and the grace of her spirit never deserted her. She was Aunt Grace right through to the end. She died three weeks later, peacefully, at home, with her husband and her two sons beside her.

I will miss her the rest of my life, but I am confident that she is rejoicing in her reunion with all those whom she has loved and missed. What grace she brought to all of us.