My aunt Francis passed on Sunday night.  She was very close to her 95th birthday and she was just not interested.  We were set to plan her party even though she didn’t want that either.  She got her wish.  A late night trip to bathroom, an unusual pain and she collapsed and she left us.

Of course she left behind her two kids, a son-in-law, her only brother (coming on 93), lots of friends, family and people in the town who will miss her, but today as we officially said good-bye on a sunny, chilly Wednesday afternoon, we celebrated her life.  Placed next to her husband Nate, surrounded by her parents, his parents and ancestors it felt right.

Of course, I took time to check in on my friend Eileen.  Her funeral didn’t feel right.  She had more life to live and share, but my aunt Francis, a life full, and well lived who even at 94+ seemed to control her destiny.  It’s not easy to find that cemetery and since I realized that Wilder’s “Our Town” was written for adults and not high school kids, the scene at the cemetery is etched in my brain and it comes alive for me often, especially when I have to deal with a death.  In that small cemetery in the middle of the woods, hard for the living to find,  I see them sitting together watching us.

So it was a sunny day for Aunt Francis and we wished her and well as she took off.

Here’s a few shots I probably shouldn’t have taken…