My Aunt Sharon lived on a farm. A REAL one. They had cow tanks, bails of hay, old trucks, tractors, combines, cows you could throw rocks at, fields to play in, windmills, 'out' buildings and a house with no heat upstairs. She also had a real pantry. Just like the ones you see in neato books from the library because you can't afford to buy one. Aunt Sharon let us play with mud. I remember playing one time and I was mad at my cousin, her son, and I pushed him off of the porch into some mud. And then lied and said he fell. Aunt Sharon used to give my sister and I a baby aspirin every time we left their house. She knew they wouldn't hurt us and she knew we liked them, so she gave us one. What a great thing it was to have an Aunt that gave you baby aspirins. She also used lots of pepper in her gravy. She loved shoes and purses. She just loved to shop. And you all think my mom has lots of doo-dads and stuff. Aunt Sharon and Uncle Alan had three kids. Cheryl was just a year younger than me and we had LOTS of fun with each other. We spent way too much of our time being mean to Sam and Brad. I'm pretty sure we should have been nicer to them. It's too late now.
It's funny, I can look at my Aunt Sharon as this little girl, and she looked just like that when she was older. Only older. She died a day after my mom's birthday in January. You just don't ever think your Aunt is going to die. But they do. The last time I saw her was in Seward........she came to see us when we were there for a visit. She used oxygen and couldn't breathe very well, but she came to see us anyway. Everything wore her out at the end.
Now my 3 cousins don't have a mom or dad.
Now she is experiencing eternity.
Eternity.
That's a long time.
When we got home from the funeral, my daffodils were blooming. Now they are bittersweet to me.
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