the end of an era

Yesterday, my Auntie Crystal died. Well, techincally, she is my mom's aunt, more accurately my mom's mom's sister.

This is me, Auntie Crystal, and my cousin Kasey, taken on a trip out to CA a couple years ago. We are standing in Shuberts (look them up!) in Chico, CA and it's the ice cream and candy store that Uncle Charles and Auntie Crystal ran for a bajillion years. Really, I don't know how many, but I do know that in 1938 it was started by Charles' Uncle Leonard Shubert, and then Charles and Crystal ran it forever, and now their son, my uncle Chuck owns it, and his son Nate actually runs it. My mom worked there when she was in college!

Anyway, Crystal's sister, Grandma Annie passed away a couple years ago, and Grandpa Glen passed away a couple years before that, so Crystal was the last of that generation who was still around. She was 92 when she died.

Even after Grandma Annie and Grandpa Glen passed away, I could still talk to Auntie Crystal. And she was SHARP! She remembered tons of things, and was very active, even up to a couple months before she passed away. This is not a great picture, but it's me and Auntie Crystal playing cards. And I recall that she beat me several times. I blame mom for the bad photography...

Auntie Crystal and Grandma Annie had a great relationship. They were friends, lived in the same town for, like 50 years, and raised their kids together. Now that they are gone, I realize what a blessing it is to have that kind of familiy relationships. My sister Angie and I have always had a good relationship, but now that we are adults, it really is great. This morning I got up at 3am to take Angie and Dan and the boys to the airport. Here they are all ready to go (at 4:30am!):

I am grateful for the richness of my family, and the deep history I have gotten from them. I am grateful for the experience growing up with Grandpas and Grandmas, and aunts and uncles, and the weighty respect I have for their generation.

I'll close today's family thoughts with a couple more pictures. This one was taken in the summer of 1926. Crystal is on the right, and Grandma Annie is in the middle (in the crib). Their sister Gracie is on the left.

This one is the same 3 sisters many, many years later. Crystal is on the left, and Grandma Annie is on the right.

Goodbye Auntie Crystal. Miss you already.
K