I loved having an aunt who was my heart – she wasn’t exactly fun, she was actually very posh and bossy. She bossed my mum around a lot too (older sister). But I loved her. She helped me select my wedding dress, found my first rental at uni and took me to enrol, and she was the only one who knew what it was to have have a sick child, to fear they might not last… She had a daughter and their relationship was difficult (her daughter is the most selfish person I have ever met), to the point that when my aunt, her mother was dying, she told her mum there wasn’t enough inheritance to see her through, so my cancer ridden aunt wouldn’t even take a taxi home from chemo! But when my aunt passed her final breath it was with her hand in mine. After all our years, she was safe in my company. Her sisters and daughter had left the room for a cup of tea, and I held her hand and thanked her for the love. And her chest rattled and then it stopped. I loved her and she knew it and she left. What more can one ask of life than to love and be loved? Anyone who knows the love of someone like my aunty is a mighty lucky person indeed. Aunties are marvellous. They are also the only people who know even more than you how annoying one of your parents can be (haha). If you can be one of those aunties, then you make the world a much better and brighter place.
