Aunt Carol

It was terribly sad news a day or so ago when I learned my Aunt Carol had passed away from cancer.   She lived in Phoenix  with her husband Jerry, where they had been for many years after leaving Wisconsin.  I'm the oldest child of oldest children in my parents families, so my aunts and uncles were not a lot older than I.  As a kid, I grew up with them and we shared a lot of time together, even outside of family gatherings.

Aunt Carol was a middle child and always of a full spirit.  Of all of my Meurett Grandparents kids (six of them), she was by far the most fun loving and crazy with the greatest laugh.  She and Jerry lived in Wausau, then Manotowoc and then eventually made their home in Arizona, which meant I didn't see them often.  I grew up- school, job, family and spending time together with most of my aunts and uncles was limited to weddings, funerals and an occasional reunion.  Carol and Jerry would venture back once a year to visit and if my schedule wasn't too busy, we might connect.

When I started this blog, she was one of the first to become a "follower," which I didn't know for some time.  I'd find out from my mom that Carol liked some of my photographs and always enjoyed reading my little posts.  I guess she lurked on the sidelines and never posted comments.  She was cool and savvy enough to finally post her picture, (Admitting she was a "follower") which I included here.  It's a small pixelated image, but one I always loved seeing when I went to put new material online-I knew even though she was a thousand miles away, she still stayed connected.

The last time we were together was at cousins wedding and family get together two years ago.  We had a great time, all the aunts back together and I dragged them out to the trunk of a car to sample some of my home made wine.  It was a hit, and we laughed, talked smart and truly enjoyed the day.  It was a chance to catch up, to bring up the past and just be happy in the moment together.  That's the feeling that is was still in me when I learned of her passing and the one I'll hold onto the most.

There will be a memorial service of some kind in the weeks to come and at times I've not felt very comfortable at those kind of things.  Does anyone?  But I think if Aunt Carol had her way, (and she would) she'd want the great aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews to head out into the parking lot again, uncork a bottle or two of homemade wine and toast her- remember her laugh and enjoy the time together-that's what she'd do and it seems so fitting to celebrate her spirit.  RIP Aunt Carol.

Aunt Carol-one of my first Followers.  : )