I think I can make this upbeat

Aunt Margaret died yesterday. She was 86 (I think) and she was a force of nature. She was Canadian and Italian and knew what she wanted in life. In her day she left Canada and moved to San Francisco and found a job. Seems pretty normal now but then it was quit revolutionary. She met Uncle Bill and then she became a wife and a mother. I only knew her as that but she managed her household with the same determination and care as she had her early life.

So what do I remember. I remember her boiling canned corn for 20 minutes. (She was Canadian and they can't cook.) I remember my mom asking what she was doing and Margaret thinking that was the recipe. I remember her giving me a great appreciation for tea and good china. I remember that if you needed a recommendation on buying a microwave she was the one to call. She had done the research. I remember her kindness, and attention to what was important. I remember how entirely thrilled she was that her son met Pope John Paul. I remember her meeting me at the Seattle airport for dinner when I was a 19 and flying to England.

I just hope she remembered some kindness from me.

Mom and I were talking yesterday and she told me Margaret had battled ovarian cancer since 1996 when Grandma Foster died. I was shocked. She was an inspiration.

We will gather at some point and we will tell the stories and we will laugh and we will cry and we will remember.