I'd forgotten how easy it was to buy an airline ticket. It's really not that hard, you just get online, type in where you want to go, fish around for when you want to go, pay some money, and you're done. Easy - not really that expensive if you're using airmiles, which, after two years of accumulating them, I have enough to go to London Business Class.
I'd like to be a bit more excited about going away, but I'm going to Canberra in a fortnight. I'm going to Canberra for a funeral.
See, one of my favourite people on the planet died today. She was my aunt and I've loved her all my life. She was a quiet, humble woman, and despite her achievements of which there were many, and despite the fact there were aspects of her life which were incredibly hard, she kept a sunny countenance and just kept on keeping on. She also had a wicked sense of humour, a steadfast sense of right and wrong and a very loving heart.
She was a midwife, a very skilled midwife, tending firstly to the women of her district when she lived down near Keith, South Australia (Family lore has it that she gave birth to my cousin Mel one night, then went and helped another woman the following night). Working until sixty-five, she continued being a midwife, heading up the birthing unit at one of Canberra's largest hospitals for many years. She received the Order of Australia for services to midwifery fifteen year ago.
She raised five kids, at times on what appeared to be next to nothing. I'm the sixth child by proxy. Well it feels like that. Calling two if my cousins this afternoon after receiving the news, their first question was, "You'll be there?"
Of course I'll bloody be there.
Over the years, she's been a constant. I've always called her every couple of weeks to see how she's been doing. If I've been in Canberra, I've made sure I visited. When I was living overseas, I made sure I dropped her a line to let her know how thing were going. She was that aunt. A bit of an enigma. I loved being around her calming presence. She had the uncanny ability to make you feel loved and important, and for that I will always cherish her.
Rest well, Aunty Marg.
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