Monday With Penney

I've been trying to process the events of this morning with my Aunt Penney.  She has been in my heart all day long after our visit to her house.  She is sick.  The years of asthma and second-hand smoke has taken its toll on this young lady.  She may not be young by some standards, but I consider 60's very young.

She ran her fingers through my hair when I should have been brushing hers instead.  She held my hand.  She loved me while I sat at her side. I remember her raspy breathing as I walked by her side when I was just a child.  I had no idea at that time how difficult it was for her.  I loved and still love her like my own mother.  I spent my summers at her house and she treated me like her child.  There are so many precious memories of my times at her house with my uncle and cousins.

Today I took all my daughters to visit her.  I haven't seen her in almost a year, and I was saddened by the toll this sickness has taken on her.  I hate it.  She is being cared for at home by nurses and her husband.  But, oh, how I wish for those days when I was younger with her, teaching me how to peel potatoes and enjoy a good pot roast.

Ivy, Eva, and Joy did not understand her sickness or my affection towards my aunt.  Maybe it is better they didn't.  Instead, they wandered around, petting the dogs, calf, and hunting for the cat.