Today started with my annual checkup for the
SGNT study I am parrt of. The annual checkup is more detailed than the quarterly ones, and hours later my eyes are still dilated.
I managed to work a little anyway, but when I got to the busstop to head home I saw a group chat from a cousin in Wisconsin with the sad news that his mom had died. So now, instead of working on the bus, I will remember my Aunt Nancy.
When my mom was around 18 years old she took a government Civil Service test, and did well enough that she got a job in Washington DC, working at the Pentagon. She lived in DC for six years before marrying my dad and travelling the world. While I have never been to DC, i grew up listening to her stories from that time.
Most of those stories featured one of her dearest friends, Nancy. Nancy was sweet, smart, and beautiful, and when my mom's big brother Jim (her favourite sibling), came to visit Jim and Nancy hit it off right away. I am told that at that first party after they met Jim and Nancy left the apartment to go buy more beer, and when they got back to the building and started up the stairs to the apartment they stopped and shared their first kiss. After that, any time they went up or down the stairs in that building they always stopped on the same step to share another kiss.
Not surprisingly, soon thereafter she was not only my mom's best friend, but also her sister. It was always a special treat when we were little to go visit Jim and Nancy, and their son, called Jimbo when he was little, to distinguish him fro. His dad, but these days simply Jim.
I had many wonderful aunts, but Nancy was a serious favourite. When I was little always took the time to talk to me as though I were her equal, and not simply a little kid, and when I became taller than she was, this didn't change.
It has been years since I saw her last, but I made a special point of passing through Wisconsin on my way to Europe from Australia in 2009, just so I could see her.
Today, I heard from my cousin Jim that news we never want to hear, but comes sooner or later for everyone. Rest well Nancy, the world is the richer because you were, and you had such a positive effect on so many people, and we who loved you will long remember you.