Perspective

This week, we laid to rest my Great Aunt Mart.  It was a bit unexpected, even if she was 84 years old.  She had a massive stroke and lived for another week beyond that.  It had only been in the last 6 weeks or so that my dad had "sent" her to stay with one of her sisters who convinced her to try out the nursing home (which she loved!).

Aunt Mart was my grandma's bestie. She never married or had any children.  She lived in the very tiny, little town that I grew up in and we saw her a lot.  She took me to ceramics classes and took me swimming, too.  She was a quirky kind of lady and had her faults, just like the rest of us.

I've really been hit a bit hard by Aunt Mart's passing and I've really been trying to understand why.  I'm not sure if it's just because this is the first close family death since my brother passed away (which was almost 10 years ago).  Also, as an adult, I've learned that my aunt struggled with depression as a young woman and was hospitalized...and given "treatment" that I'm pretty sure is not sanctioned anymore.  My dad says she always wanted to be married and have children and that never happened for her.

At the wake, one of my other great aunts, aged 90,   (there were 13 brothers and sisters, and after Aunt Mart's passing there are only 3 remaining) said something like this....  "Martha had a good life and she had a hard life...but she was really fortunate in the way that she was able to pass."  She had a massive stroke and then left us a week later.  She didn't have to be in pain or struggle to communicate.  One of my other great aunts or one of several of my dad's first cousins were able to be with her for pretty much all of the time after she had the stroke until she passed.

It was interesting to hear my great aunt's perspective on being fortunate in how Aunt Mart left this world.