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family stories
Once upon a time there was a family, Alf and Edith B and their ten children: Arthur, Kenneth, Ivy, Cyril, Philip, Robert, Stanley, Marjorie, Marion and Georgie. My granddad Arthur was the oldest of those ten children.
As of last week, only the three girls were still with us: Ivy, Marjorie and Marion. Then on Friday night we lost Marjorie. She was 83.
I think we all knew it was coming - she'd been failing for a long time, getting steadily worse ever since she lost her husband George last year...but then again part of me is surprised, because I really thought that Ivy would go first - she's almost 93, in a nursing home and her mind completely gone. Marjorie had alzheimers too, but she was still living in her own home, cared for by a granddaughter...she went fast in the end, though. She died surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, which is nice to know - they all gathered around when they knew the end was near, and stayed with her until it was over.
I think it'll hit Auntie Marion the hardest. They were so very close, all their lives.
Marj and Marion married a pair of brothers, George and Bobby, which tied them even closer together. Then when Marion had an affair while Bobby was serving overseas with the army, and she became pregnant, Marjorie and George agreed to adopt the baby, Margaret, and raised her as their own.
The whole family kept that secret for many a long year - it finally came out when the teenage Margaret decided she was in love with her cousin Michael and wanted to marry him...so they had to be told that they were actually brother and sister! That right there is the most openly soap opera my family has ever been! Well, that and the day my Aunty Lel went into labour at her sister's funeral, but that's another story.
Anyway, so that was Auntie Marj. She is with Uncle George again now.
In other news, my Auntie Lel is back in intensive care with some kind of bug or infection - it isn't clear yet exactly what's wrong, but she's had severe nausea and her oxygen sats dropped very low. So we're all just waiting for news again, there.
As of last week, only the three girls were still with us: Ivy, Marjorie and Marion. Then on Friday night we lost Marjorie. She was 83.
I think we all knew it was coming - she'd been failing for a long time, getting steadily worse ever since she lost her husband George last year...but then again part of me is surprised, because I really thought that Ivy would go first - she's almost 93, in a nursing home and her mind completely gone. Marjorie had alzheimers too, but she was still living in her own home, cared for by a granddaughter...she went fast in the end, though. She died surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, which is nice to know - they all gathered around when they knew the end was near, and stayed with her until it was over.
I think it'll hit Auntie Marion the hardest. They were so very close, all their lives.
Marj and Marion married a pair of brothers, George and Bobby, which tied them even closer together. Then when Marion had an affair while Bobby was serving overseas with the army, and she became pregnant, Marjorie and George agreed to adopt the baby, Margaret, and raised her as their own.
The whole family kept that secret for many a long year - it finally came out when the teenage Margaret decided she was in love with her cousin Michael and wanted to marry him...so they had to be told that they were actually brother and sister! That right there is the most openly soap opera my family has ever been! Well, that and the day my Aunty Lel went into labour at her sister's funeral, but that's another story.
Anyway, so that was Auntie Marj. She is with Uncle George again now.
In other news, my Auntie Lel is back in intensive care with some kind of bug or infection - it isn't clear yet exactly what's wrong, but she's had severe nausea and her oxygen sats dropped very low. So we're all just waiting for news again, there.
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Great pictures and stories--it's nice to here about your family.