Goodbye Auntie Mable

There are so many people who have Godparents they hardly know or have no contact with at all. I was one of the lucky ones...Auntie Mable was a part of my life from the day I was born and no matter where I lived, she kept in contact and insisted that I do the same. She saw herself as being almost as important as my own Mother and there were times when I felt conflicted in the attention I needed to give each of them. However, she was always there when needed and never refused anything I ever asked of her.

I remember when Kevin was a baby and she and Uncle John came to visit us in Chatham, NB. I asked if she could knit a hat for him that would match his little fuzzy snowsuit. Within a few hours he had the finished product and we laughed so hard when I handed her the pom-pom I'd made for the top...it was HUGE! When we lived in Germany, her Christmas parcel was the one we couldn't (and didn't) wait to open as there was always a box of homemade shortbread that she had packed with such care so that the cookies wouldn't break. What a wonderful cook she was and we often talked about the marathon apple pie making we'd do in the fall for the freezer.

She passed away today and I'm going to miss her. She would call me 3 or 4 times a week and I'd have to bring her up-to-date on how my kids were doing as well as everyone else in the family. She loved to hear stories about Baby Ty and never missed an opportunity to tell me a similar story about when I was a baby.

Fortunately I went to see her last night and she was still conscious enough to know I was there. When I left, I said goodbye and told her I'd be back today....she replied, "Thanks Pet" which is what she always called me. She was far more sentimental than she appeared and her love for her family, whether immediate or extended, was absolute. I'd like to think she and Mom are together now, continuing the friendship they started in 1943.