Mimi

I have been thinking a lot about death today. Someone very special to me died this past week - my Aunt Gerry. She is actually my dad's Aunt, but we always called her Aunt Gerry as well.

Every summer my sister and I spent a week at Aunt Gerry's (Mimi) house in Pembroke. Mimi had 3 children - Marc, Luke and Rochelle (my dad's cousins). We always had a really fun time at Mimi's place. Every year we looked forward to our little traditions; walking to the corner store to buy loads of candy, eating velveeta cheese in the box, before bedtime snack of little Normandie chocolate covered cookies, playing in the backyard with Mimi's neighbour Cheryl, sleeping in our cousins, Luke and Marc's, captain beds. Everything was an adventure at Mimi's place. We began our yearly visits to Pembroke when we were about four years old up until we were about twelve. One of our fondest memories was staying up late and playing cards with Aunt Gerry and Rochelle. We loved it!!!

Soon after we turned thirteen, we just stopped going. I'm not really sure why. We started to make friends in highschool and our summers just got busier. Years went by, and we thought about Aunt Gerry, but the busyness of life got in the way.

Over the past 15 years, the only time we really saw Aunt Gerry, Rochelle, Marc and Luke were at really significant occasions, like...funerals. Every few years someone passed away and we saw them. We always laughed and reminissed about the good old days and agreed that we should keep in touch. But years just kept going by and we would again meet at someone else's funeral.

Well, this time it was Aunt Gerry's funeral. Aunt Gerry may have been about 90 years old, but she was full of life. She was fun, mischevious - a little stinker! We really loved her. I still can't believe that she is gone. I sort of thought she would live forever. She was so young at heart.

My whole point here is that time should not have gotten the best of us. I should have made an effort to keep in touch with Aunt Gerry and visit her more often. I chose to let my busy life get in the way and now I am sort of left with some regrets.

I guess what I am trying to say is that if we love someone, we need to make time for them. A Christmas card once a year doesn't cut it for me. I can think of some friends and family members who I haven't gotten in touch with in a really long time, and today I've made a choice that no matter how busy I get, I am going to make time for the people that I care about. I'm not going to let the years slip by - not anymore.

Tracy, Mimi & Angela
This photo was taken the last time we saw her, 3 years ago.
I was 9 months pregnant with Ty.