Tuesday, May 3, 2011

My Aunt Ruby

My family suffered a sad, sad loss this weekend when my Aunt Ruby (one of my dad's sisters) passed away. She had just been diagnosed with cancer and was taken far too quickly from us - it's still hard to wrap my brain around the fact that she's gone. I was able to speak with her just a few days before she died - she was declining in health but she was able to chat and wanted to talk to me about what music she wanted at her funeral. As you can imagine, it was a very emotional conversation for me and, in true Aunt Ruby form, she kept apologizing for making ME sad . . . she was more concerned about me than she was for herself. Amazing. Before she hung up, she took time to tell me how proud she was of me and how she loved me very much.

I will cherish that phone call for the rest of my life.

And I will cherish another special memory of her, as well. When I was like 6 or 7 years old, Aunt Ruby's church was hosting a Mother/Daughter Day and, alas, she had only two sons. Don't get me wrong - they were GREAT sons. But they made TERRIBLE daughters. So my Aunt Ruby picked me - yes, MEEEEEEEEE - to be her daughter for the day at church. (Hey, Tammy and Erin - remember when Aunt Ruby picked MEEEEEEE and not YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU to be her daughter for the Mother/Daughter Day at her church? That was awesome, wasn't it?) Anyway, I remember how excited I was to be invited along on such a special day and was ESPECIALLY excited that I was going to get to sit next to her at church. I got a new dress for the occasion, along with new socks and shoes, and my mom gave me an especially fancy new hairdo. I was VERY excited about showing myself off to Aunt Ruby when she got there.

But can you blame me?? I looked PRECIOUS . . .


I looked so cute, you HARDLY notice the huge cowlick in my bangs, right? . . . Right? . . . RIGHT??

And, apparently, I was equally excited about a new slip that had gotten for such a special day:


I remember waiting for her to pick me up and being just about to jump out of my skin with excitement. Can you tell??


But, by far, the most exciting part of the day - even more exciting than my new dress, my new shoes, AND my new slip - was the fact that I got to spend the day with my Aunt Ruby. All by myself.


And I'll never forget it.

Miss you already, Aunt Ruby . . .

4 comments:

Jenny said...

I'm so sorry for your loss. Thanks for sharing the special memory of that Mother/Daughter Day though. Very, very sweet.

Anonymous said...

Well, knowing Aunt Ruby, she probably picked you because you weren't mom and dad's favorite like I was. She wanted to spread the love, I'm sure!!! Great post. It made me happy and weepy. I will miss her dearly as well. ESPECIALLY the way she laughed at my jokes harder than yours. ;)

I LOVE YOU AUNT RUBY!!!!

Erin

Anonymous said...

So sorry, Catchy. Losing our dear loved ones is so hard. I loved the story. :) HUGS to all of you!

~Gwennie

Anonymous said...

What a special story and what a special day for you! Thanks for sharing Catherine. I have many fond memories of Aunt Ruby also. She always had a way of making me feel special!