Forever young

So I didn't post yesterday at all...not a great day for me personally. Not only have I been totally slammed at work, I've been juggling too much other shit to even talk about.

Then to add fuel to the fire, I got into work yesterday morning to find an e-mail from my dad. My dad will be 84 this year and isn't exactly internet-savvy, and knowing that he's up in Minnesota (or someplace I'm not sure where) for the week, I knew it couldn't be good. Apparently they found my mom's youngest sister dead in her house yesterday. My mom was one of nine girls, Mom being #7 and my aunt Nancy was #9. They were very close growing up and over the past year or two I know that Mom has been trying to check in on her a lot since my uncle died.

I was pretty bummed out about it yesterday - Aunt Nancy had a really hard life. She married my Uncle Watson, they ended up divorcing when he was sent to prison for murdering someone, and then they remarried later on in life. They had three kids together - two of the three have been in and out of jail and rehab their entire lives, and the other child really hasn't had much contact with the rest of the family either. Since I'm so much younger than my siblings and the rest of my cousins, I only remember Nancy as an older lady when life was just really difficult for her.

Yesterday afternoon I was talking to my sister about it - she was just as upset by the news as I was. She started telling me stories about my aunt when she was younger - how pretty she was, how she was always laughing and smiling and just enjoying life. I don't remember her that way, but I would like to because it's easier than remembering her as a shell, worn down by life.

I hope she's up there somewhere, laughing loudly and twirling around in a dress. I'd like to think she is, at least.

And because you know I can't end without something funny to say...the e-mail from my dad read: "Nancy was found in front of the TV with remote in hand, dead. Too much bad TV I guess." See, that is just WRONG. But now you see where I get it from.