Saturday 2 June 2007

My Aunt, Liz's Memorial Service

I went to my aunt, Liz's memorial service this afternoon (she passed away on May 20 at the age of 72 of Lou Gehrig's Disease).

Liz was my father's sister (they had the same parents - their mother had four children later on with someone else). I hadn't seen her since 1997. I lost touch with her again about five years ago.

The memorial service was held in a legion in a small town a couple hours northwest of Toronto. It was very casual. People got up and told stories.

Her daughters had put together some posters with memories. Here's the one of her childhood that included some pictures of my father (he died in 1971).



It sounds like the memorial service was just as Liz would have wanted ... lots of food, laughter and tears, and singing (her daughter set up a karaoke machine).

10 comments:

RennyBA said...

Sounds like a memorable memorable service and a nice way to say goodbye to your aunt. Good to read about once that brings laughter even if the loss is sad. I'm glad it came out the way her children wanted and I have a feeling of that your aunt wanted it to be that way too.
Lovely memories posters too - again collecting and the good and rich memories!

OldLady Of The Hills said...

It must have been kind of a strange thing to be there and have those two people not remember meeting you earlier....But it had to be very very nice to be there for your memories of your Aunt and to see some wonderful pictures of your Dad, too! Like you, I feel my friends are my chosen family and I am deeply grateful to have such wonderful dear friends....!

MsCarolM said...

What a nice way to say goodbye to your aunt.

Unknown said...

Sorry about your aunt. From what I could make of her pictures she must have had quite a life.

Forest Dogs said...

Unlike you, I have only 2 uncles and 1 aunt, and they all live in other countries, so we rarely meet.

Luckily there was always a bond between my mum and her two brothers, so we keep in touch sometimes, but I think its weird that my children have never met any of their relatives in their own countries (some came over for my dad's funeral, but there's 5 living generations over there in Denmark!)

Anyhow... I go off on a tangent... what I was going to say was that the memory boards were a lovely idea - it's nice to celebrate someone's life like that. They are, after all, part of our lives, even if they are not exactly in it!


Second Blogblast for Peace
Wednesday 6th June 2007

Anonymous said...

Hey T!

Must have been a very somber and challenging day for you. I'm so glad that you had a chance to get to know her. In the meantime, I'm happy to part of your extended family to help make lots of future happy memories together. God knows, you're part of mine! ;)

Isabel said...

Sorry about your aunt Teena. The memory board looked nice.

Arlene said...

I'm sorry about your aunt :-(
My Uncles reunion was the same way...cousins I didn't remember ever knowing...families are like that I guess.

Jodi_Lee said...

Awwww...Teena, I am so sorry to hear about your aunt. I love it when the passing of a special person is celebrated by the life they lived.

Anonymous said...

So sorry to hear about your Aunt Teena. Even though you're not close with most of the family, it's good that you went and were able to say goodbye.