RIP Auntie Barbara

Last week, I wrote a post on my Other Blog about the emotion of grief, how I experience grief and how I cope with it.

This is why that post went up.

It was my Auntie Barb’s funeral today.

The family has been in Toronto for the past week – those of us coming from away arrived on the 1st – and we were there to see Auntie Barb pass. It’s been very hard; she was my father’s only remaining sibling, and the only biologically related adult from that generation remaining in Toronto (for the sibs and family that live here).

Funeral Home Obit and Memorial Page

Toronto Star Legacy Memorial Page

Her online friends have been wonderful; condolences have come in from her friends in the Celtic Tenors fan group and the Celtic Tenors themselves and of the online puzzle group Jigidi.

As I mentioned in the post in my Other Blog, one of the main ways in which I grieve is by writing memorial poems. I’m including the poem I wrote for her here.

I Remember
(for Auntie Barb)
©2018 Trudy A. Goold

From childhood I remember
Lasagna Christmas Eve,
Boney M on the tape player,
The small Christmas tree.
Coloured crystal glasses
For the adults, and
After Eights on the table,
With love and hugs for all.

Skating lessons in Eglinton Park,
Watching sports when we played,
Looking after us when new
Siblings were born. Using
Suitcases as airplanes – we still
Have the picture; Tony boogeying
To Neil Diamond playing on the radio.
From childhood, I remember.

I remember other things,
Stuffed leopard on the couch,
Animal decorative plates
On the wall, and the windows
Open to the balcony. Helping
Set up the DVD player, and
Watching the figure skating
Whenever it was on.

I remember your close friends,
Adopted as family by us all
Thanks to the ties you wove between,
You were heart and soul and
The ties that bind, giving us
A family of choice as well
As blood. Generous, patient,
A willing friend and mentor.

But most of all I remember
The care, love, and attention
That we could always get from you.
It didn’t matter what the time
Or the season of the year,
You were there with listening ear
When we needed you.
That’s what I remember.


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