Aunt Bessie died today or late yesterday. As I understand it, she passed away in her sleep after a pleasant day visiting with her family. She was in a nursing home recovering from a second hip fracture in as many months. And she was conscious and coherent enough to tell the medical staff that she didn't want to go through another operation.
Aunt Bessie was my father's younger sister and sole surviving member of my father's siblings. With her passing, my father's generation is now gone. We now get to consider me and my siblings as the "top of the tree" genealogically speaking. And, of course, since four of the five of us have already outlived Mother, we do wonder how much we will outlive that generation.
Aunt Bessie was always a bit of a mystery to me because she and her family seemed to be out of the mainstream. They lived in Brigham City, Box Elder County where most of the Aunts and Uncles lived in Central Utah, an easy Sunday afternoon's drive from our house. So we didn't play with those cousins nearly as much and didn't share the bonds that cousins often make.
But Aunt Bessie and Uncle Don tried to keep up with the rest of the family, attending as many family reunions and festivities as possible. It was both a blessing and a hindrance when they took on a catering business and later expanded to a reception mansion business. They were able to cater my wedding, for example, but sometimes they were booked so much that they couldn't attend graduations or weddings that they weren't catering.
Rest in peace, Aunt Bessie. You deserve it.
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