The past passes by

They are all gone now: Aunt Helen, Aunt Dorth and Uncle Bob.

My two aunts were nuns; my uncle, a priest. An informal holy trinity, you might say.

Unk died in 1974, Aunt Helen passed away in 2004 and Aunt Dorth left us earlier this month.

A cousin from Dorth and Bob's generation lives in California, and an older cousin lives in Canada, but although we've all been on good terms we're far apart and rarely in touch, so, practically speaking, my aunts and uncle were the last links to my family's past, the last people who could, for example, tell you what it was to live in this neighborhood -- and in the very house in which I'm writing this -- 70 or even 80 years ago.

My mom died 25 years ago and my dad passed away almost three years ago, but somehow it's only now that I'm really beginning to feel like an orphan.

I'll be writing more about my aunts and uncle soon.