Aunt Betty

Tom lost his Aunt Betty this weekend - somewhat suddenly. She was his beloved aunt and stand-in grandmother after his grandparents died. Amelia got to meet her a few times and above is a great picture of them when Amelia was only 9 months old. Amelia has been pretty cute about it and last night during prayers at bedtime said, "Thank you for Aunt Betty who had to go to heaven today." Admittedly this was a bit prompted by me as I sent her up to do bedtime with Tom. Tonight, however, as I was starting her prayers she interrupted me and said, "And THANK YOU FOR AUNT BETTY." Then Tom came up and she told him what she said and he gave her a big and she told him to stop squishing her hand. But then she said, "What was Aunt Betty like, Daddy?" We told her that she is lucky because she now has another angel looking after her and to make her feel safe if she's ever scared.

The lesson for us this weekend we think is that both Tom and I have been incredibly lucky to have people from generations above us in our lives for so long. They got to see us grow up, find a spouse, and have children. Not many people can say that. But it also makes it a little bit extra sad because we each have lived our entire lives with them and we both grew accustomed to them always being there. It's a bit like losing a parent. It's hard when you don't feel like you got a chance to say good-bye.