Goodbye Cousin Janice
July 8, 2014.Her death caught me unaware...as death so often does. I wasnt ready to say goodbye when I had just begun saying hello again.
I just heard that my cousin, Janice,passed away this afternoon.
We grew up together. Our Dad's bought a 2 family house and Janice and her brothers and sister lived downstairs with my Aunt and Uncle and I lived upstairs with my Mom and Dad.
We were always together, all of them and me. I was an only child, so they were my brothers and sisters. Janice was the baby of all of us. We played together, ate together, spent nights in the backyard under the stars together, went to the same church and school together and managed to find our fair share of trouble together. We were kin because of our Dad's but my cousins and I were connected thru that unmistakable bond that connects children who grow up together.
When my Dad got sick and ultimately died, I know that Janice and her sister and brothers felt as though their own Dad had died..we were that close.
Life takes over and we all move on and we get busy with our own lives and our own families and you lose touch. Family ties might be stretched and strained, but they are never truly broken. Years and time and now death, cannot take away the memories of those sweet years on Kroger Avenue in Cincinnati when we were kids and life was sweet and oh so innocent.
You are now at peace and in heaven with your Mom and Dad and Kathy and all of our relatives.
As your Dad would say...So long for now until we meet again.
God bless and keep you and may His perpetual light shine upon you and remain with you forever.
Cancer claimed your life, dear Janice, but it cant claim the love all of us shared or the sweet soul of you.
Comments
AUTHORI think of her a lot, Joan.
Her childhood was rough, but, like the best fairytales, her adult life was wonderful and filled with a lot of love from her husband and her children.
Thats all that matters.
Lovely words to honor your cousin, Janice. I'm sure she always knew in her heart that you loved her even if time and distance had changed the close relationship you enjoyed as children.
