It’s been a very sad day on Thursday when the doctor called me to tell me that my grandaunt Margot in Germany passed away at the age of 95. She was my closest relative still alive and a wonderful cheerful person who made many people in her life happy and laugh.
She was always a special role model for me and I will miss her more than anything. She was an amazing woman taking for many years care of my very sick uncle and then traveling 5 continents until she was in her early 80s . As a teenager I couldn’t wait for the postcards I would get from her from far away places like China, Australia, Swaziland or San Francisco just to name a few.
My aunt was a source of stories with an unbelievable stack of family photos which I still haven’t been able to go all through yet. She would tell the funniest and quirkiest stories about family members and I could never get enough listening to them. As a child I remember running into the living room and standing in front of her photo cupboard begging her to take some new photos out and start story telling. We had a very special relationship and when she asked me when I was pretty young, if I would be her care taker when she wouldn’t be able to handle her matters anymore, I happily said yes. It bonded us even more over the years.
Even though I will miss her a lot and it weighs hard on me that I wasn’t with her when she passed on thursday, I know in my heart that she had a really wonderful and fullfilled life and that it was for the best for her as the last couple days were showing that she would probably remain in a terrible state after she suffered another stroke. I was on the brim to fly to Germany any moment, but the doctors had assured me there was no need to come, and that she would be alright. I am glad at least, that I was able to see her one last time awake and laughing and talking for her 95th birthday in December and I will cherish this memory.
For some this might be a weird and very private post and I admit that I wasn’t sure if I should post about it…and to be honest I wasn’t even sure if I could write about it. But I felt that since I have shared so many stories, artwork and layouts regarding my aunt ever since I started blogging in 2006, that it was appropriate to let my long term readers know. Thank you for letting me share all these years our special relationship – and as I have said on Thursday to a lot of my friends:
Do me a favor today: hug a close relative today or call them and tell them how much you love them!
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