Not . Forgotten

Dates, ritual, celebration, acknowledgement, rememberance. These are important in our family.

Birthdays are celebrated, as are wedding anniversaries and the date we first met.

There are other dates though that feel like picking at an old scab, on those days we remember the passing of a loved one.

Today and tomorrow are such days in our family.

On these days I lost my only two cousins that I knew, my aunt’s two sons. The eldest, Mario died  at the age of 20, forty-five years ago. His brother, Orasio passed away nineteen years ago at 41. 

The loss of their sons was an irreparable wound upon my aunt and uncle. As the years have clicked over their sorrow has not diminished. Only now my auntie grieves alone as her life-mate has also passed. 

For her these days are an emotional torture as she relives their final moments. So devoted, loving and focussed upon her family, the loss has gouged at her heart. 

Really there is nothing to be done but share in her sadness; to listen, to cry, to pray and light a candle for those we’ve loved and lost.

May they rest in peace.