Losing people

My Auntie Lorraine died last night.  She was my Dad's sister and the last of the siblings, all 3 of them gone in the space of less than 3 years, and all of them in their 70's - not really any great age.  She was a lovely woman and I admired her tremendously, although I did not know her that well.  She was diagnosed with cancer in May/June, and it was very aggressive, there was not a lot the medical people could do.  And whenever I spoke to my Mom the news wasn't good and we all knew that the inevitable wasn't far off, but when she rang this morning to tell me, it did make me incredibly sad.  I feel so much for my cousins, even though I hardly know them, I can only imagine how they are feeling.  I know what it feels like to lose a parent, but the circumstances are so different that I couldn't say "I know how you feel".

I remember listening to an adult conversation when I was in my teen years, my Dad talking to some friends in the pub of our old house in Cowies Hill, all of them with a few drinks in them.  For some reason they were talking about who they looked like, family resemblance ways.  My Dad said something about Lara looking like the Filmers, my Mom's family, at which point my interest was really piqued and I piped up, "what about me?  who do I look like? .  My Dad then replied "you've got Malan blood, you must have because you take after Lorraine". 

The hardest thing about getting older is not the physically getting older, although that is supremely irritating - grey hairs, wrinkles and making strange, old people noises when you stand up - it's losing people and not being able to do anything about it.