Two of my Aunts, my dad's sisters, passed away this December within weeks of each other. I felt the impact pretty hard and wanted to be there to support my parents and my extended family. I was able to find a plane ticket really cheap, so I quickly scrambled to get the kids situated and find babysitters while Kevin was at work. A few days later, I was on a plane taking a super long flight to California. It was about 24 hours total of travel time from when I left my house until I got to my parents house. I didn't know if I could make it work, so I didn't tell my parents I was coming. I called Erilynne, Kevin's sister and she picked me up from the airport. I got to mom's house and rung the door bell. When she answered the door she just cried and cried. It was super special to be able to completely surprise her. About 30 minutes after I arrived, all of my other siblings drove up. They all had flights that came in about the same time in LAX and Long Beach, so they just rented one car. I had a layover in LAZ, and they were trying to convince me to skip my last flight and just drive with them, ut I was too tired to sit in a car that long, when I could just sit in an airport longe then take less then an house flight to Fresno.
The next morning was my Aunt Gloria's funeral. Aunt Gloria was a really close Aunt to us. The McCauley's lived the closest to us and were the same age as a lot of my siblings, so we spent a lot of time and holidays with them. Aunt Gloria was at all my events, all my graduations and big life things. She was very much like Grandma McNaughton and always reminded me of her. She was a classy, gorgeous, and funny woman. My sisters, Misty, Lisa and Lori were all in the car with me and we were getting ready to drive away, when mom came out and made a sad face and asked if there was room for her. Of courses e said, so she ditched the guys and smiling from ear to ear jumped in the car with the girls.
After the funeral, there was a beautiful luncheon at the chapel. It was the best luncheon ever and one I think Aunt Gloria fully supported. There were jokes made, hugs, smiles, stories and families catching up. It was so wonderful to see cousins I haven't seen in over 15 years. We have such a big family, it was wonderful to see the majority of the family.
My family, with just my parents and siblings wanted to get pictures all together, because it has been a super long time since we were all together. It is so much fun being family with these crazy people. We all have different personalities and different likes and live all over the world, but we are family. And Families are forever.
After the funeral, we went to Costco. It was fun walking around the warehouse store. The family really only had the one day together since Misty and Steve had to get home the next morning. We spent the rest of the day eating, talking and just catching up.
But, before we divided once more, as siblings we decided to try to recreate a picture we took years ago when we were together in Utah. It took a few tries, but I think in the end we ended up nailing it. I wish I had the originals photo, but I don't. If I ever find it, I will be adding it so you can compare the two pictures. We had a good laugh trying to recreate the picture. We also learned that Misty and Lori are not as flexible as they once were.
The next day, after Misty and Steve left, Lisa, Lori and I went to visit Aunt Nancy one last time. She has been given hours to days to live. We were hoping to be able to support her family by staying for her funeral also, but the timing just wasn't right. We enjoyed a visit with her and with her daughter Kelly. It was sweet to talk to her. Lisa had a really hard time saying good bye. I didn't know Aunt Nancy as well as Lisa did, so I'm glad all together we were able to come. It was real special to be here.
So very special that you were able to come at this most sad and stressful time. Your Love and support really meant alot and One of the best surprises EVER!
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