Goodbye Uncle Betty

There we were, my family and I, gathered to say goodbye to my Aunt. It’s a small family now, as we’ve said goodbye to too many of our loved ones. Yet, we sat side by side, sang some hymns and listened to the minister. My cousin Larry spoke about his mother. He did a great job, and he nearly had me in tears. Which was not too good, because I had to speak next. Somehow I cleared my throat, which felt very tight, climbed to the podium and told everyone about my special Aunt, “Uncle Betty“. My voice didn’t falter, and I got through okay, but right at the end, when I finished I suddenly felt like I was going to burst into tears. I couldn’t breath and I had a small sense of panic overcome me. I did not want to cry like that in front of so many strangers. So I held my breath until I sat down with my cousin Janet and I grabbed her hand and held on. I could feel her warmth and her love and slowly I could relax and breathe.
The service ended with the choir singing “Amazing Grace”. It was done as a spiritual, and I just loved it, (I usually cry buckets when I hear that song). This arrangement, however, was so uplifting and fun, that it really lightened the mood.

My cousin, Rikki, my sister, Mel, my cousin, Larry, my mother, me and my cousin, Janet.
After the service, we celebrated Uncle Betty with a buffet (she would have loved that, as she was always the first one there for a “food” event), and we all were telling our favorite stories of her. I got to meet many of our northeast Blogging friends, and at the end of the gathering, I brought in Shubi and Greta to meet everyone.
I’ll miss Uncle Betty so much. She was one of the best parts of this group of people that I call family.