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Earlier in the month we lost my aunt Juanita, or Nita as everyone called her. I found out about it after leaving game night at CCs on a Wednesday night because her son (my cousin) posted about it on Facebook. It was a shock to me. My family tends to keep illnesses from me for some reason.

She was one of my favorite relatives. Very funny. Very caring. She loved her family. One memory that has stuck with me was at a family event when I was in grad school or maybe had just finished grad school. She said in front of the whole family that showed me I would have at least one person on my side when I came out, which I hadn’t at the time.

We had recently reconnected on Facebook. She liked and commented on all of my posts. Many times when she would see me out and about somewhere she would tell me to have fun. When she passed I realized it had been a few weeks since I had heard from her.

I wish I had gotten a chance to see her one last time.

I found out yesterday that my Aunt Bert passed away on Wednesday. She was my mom’s sister. Her funeral was today. She would have turned 80 next month.

I lived with my grandparents up through 9th grade. Around 3rd grade we moved into a house right across the street from Bert and her family. I would go across the street to play at my cousin’s basketball goal, but I didn’t go inside much. Sometimes I would see her outside though.

After I moved out, I would go to my grandparent’s house on holidays, and she, her husband, and her children would come across the street to visit at some point. Sometimes I would leave before they got there and would find out after the fact that I had barely missed them. Whenever I would see her, she would want to know about me and how I was doing.

I remember her as kind, caring, and intelligent. I can’t hear the word “memorandum” without thinking about her.

RIP, Aunt Bert.

I knew that we were coming on the 10th anniversary of the passing of my grandmother.  A few weeks ago, I went through old posts and figured out today was the day.  You can see what I wrote a few days after her funeral here.

I still think about her quite often. I wish I could go to Mississippi and visit her.  I’d love to know what she thought about my life these past 10 years.  I think she’d be proud.

My uncle Dennis passed away a week ago today. Like most of my relatives back in Mississippi, I hadn’t spoken to him in a few years. I wish I had seen him more recently. For several reasons, I didn’t make it back home for his funeral. It’s one of the bad things about being so far from family.

I remember Dennis living with us early on when I was living with my grandparents and other relatives. He made us kids laugh a lot. I remember one time he had accident with a saw and having to be rushed to the hospital.

Years later after he was married and had a son, I remember helping babysit his son when my uncle would leave him with my grandparents. My mom suggested the name they gave the son. I remember there being some problems in the marriage. I think that maybe he was drinking, but I’m not sure. Dennis turned things around though. He’d been a pastor for over 15 years I think when he died. He started his own church in Jackson.

Whenever I saw Dennis at family events after that, he still had his great sense of humor. He was always nice, even when he was trying to get me to go to church. He was always a big guy and in the end he died from a heart attack. He was 57.

RIP, Uncle Dennis.