Mourning Aunt Ruth

Today Penny called to say that our Aunt Ruth died last night. She was 98 and had come down with pneumonia recently. The last time I saw her was on her birthday. She was living in a nursing home and doing pretty well. She recognized Penny and me and carried on a conversation. She was doing so well that I thought she'd live to be 100. She was the last of my parents' brothers and sisters. Now there aren't that many people alive that knew me as a child.

As a young woman, Ruth lived a vigorous life. She said she liked to fly--I think she meant that literally. She did hang out with a wild crowd and must have caused her parents some grief. She was a devoted sister to my mother and aunt to me and my sisters. When I was a child, we used to go visit her and her husband Mitch in Las Vegas, where they ran a casino. Those stays were always special. We would swim in their pool, then eat spaghetti at night while my parents went out to a club or two. In high school, Ruth and Mitch retired to Bothell and grew vegetables. We were able to visit more often. I got to know Ruth more as a person then. I thought she would fall apart when Mitch died. Instead, she just carried on and made the best of things. When she started to need help, Larry and I assisted her in moving to an apartment, then later to a retirement home. She always seemed to adapt and keep a positive attitude toward life. That's what I think I'll remember about her. She always tried to make the best of things. I'll miss her!