Great Aunt Mary

This past weekend your Great Aunt Mary passed away; she was your Grandpa Kelly's only sibling. Your aunt Jana and I spent a lot of time with Mary over the years and she was clearly our favorite older relative. When we were younger Aunt Jana, Grandpa Kelly, Nana Banana, and I would visit every Christmas, call on every major holiday, and take a trip down at least once every summer. When we were in town we would get to do all the things that our parents didn't like... go to rated R movies, eat fast food, get cool toys, and listen to inappropriate music. We also got to do all sorts of great things our parents loved, like go to the library, visit Willamette university, go to the park, play in the back yard, and help your Great Grandma Kelly (who Mary lived with and cared for) around the house.

As we got older and went to college, and particularly since Great Grandma Kelly passed away we saw Mary a lot less often. This past few months however, we made sure to visit her so that she could meet her Great Nephew... She was very excited, held you often, told stories about your Aunt Jana and I, pulled out pictures of the family over the years (she kept a great collection), showed you off to her best friend Na Na, and was all around joyful; something she had not experienced too much recently. Before we left we made sure to get a great picture of us in front of the fireplace on the couch. That is now the last family picture of your Great Aunt Mary...

This year we sent her a digital picture frame full of pictures of you for Christmas, something she would really love. We always loved Christmas with Aunt Mary. I think she single-handedly kept Santa in our lives for more years than he would otherwise have been. I can remember walking up to the store with one family member or other on Christmas Eve to get ice cream every year, and every year Santa came while we were out. It took me years and years to realize that Santa always came when we went to the store.

We all talked to Mary on Christmas day this year. Grandpa Kelly called her like always and we passed the phone among us discussing you, the family, Na Na and the kids, or whatever other such things came up. We all got to say goodbye, happy that we were able to share a part of such a special day with our favorite Aunt, Mary.