Blessed to know that generation

A few days ago, my great aunt passed away. She was my grandmother's sister, the 2nd of 4 daughters of my wonderful great-grandparents. I am extremely blessed that I have actually been able to know and to love and to be loved by so many in this family.

 My great grandparents, Sid and Fanny Vaughan (their real names were Sidney and Frances) passed away when I was in high school. Most people don't have the opportunity to know their great grandparents at all, and I had many years with them. I remember playing in the yard with her good teaspoons as we "baked cakes", eating many Sunday lunches and always getting a peppermint stick from her cupboard, and visiting on Christmas Eve. I remember giving her giving the best hugs and how much she loved babies. Papa Vaughan always had a dollar (or more) in his shirt pocket and I can still picture him standing by his chair. I also remember their 3 legged dog named Jip, appropriately named because he had been jipped out of a leg they said. I remember their very old and very run down farm house with a claw foot bathtub off the kitchen, a slanted front porch, and an old rusty glider swing in the yard. They had  a great sense of humor and a little adventure too. I recall my great grandmother asking us to sneak her a hot dog into the hospital when the doctor wasn't looking. I also remember how they loved each other until the very end, and how she knew he had passed away before the nurses even told her. It was only a few months later that she joined him in heaven.

And what farmer isn't blessed by four daughters? I'm sure that Papa Vaughan hoped for a son but he loved his girls tremendously. Those girls did the work of sons and were strong and tough. All four were pretty close in age and have lived in the same town and lived life together for the past 85 years. 

Three of them and their children and some of the grandchildren attend the same church. 

And I had the privilege of knowing and loving all of them. 

The oldest, Margaret (Aunt Mac to most) passed away last year. Shortly after her death, Katie (Aunt Kitty to me and Buddy to most) had a stroke. She never really recovered and she passed away this past week. It was sad yesterday at the funeral to see only my grandmother (Helen) and the baby of the family (Dorothy, Aunt Dot) remaining. Those ladies always came in a group.

My grandmother now lives on the family's original farm. She renovated the old farmhouse about 15 years ago and moved back to the homeplace. And I'm pretty sure that's where my mom will end up living as well. It's great to see it passed on, but difficult too. 

Mostly though, I just feel blessed to have known them all for many years.