A bizarrre coincidence.....

After we got back from the day of Music, Clive went to bed, and John, Jean and I got the family albums out.

Recap, for those who don't know my family history: My dad had an older brother, Max, who was an RAF pilot and was killed at the end of the war, doing a weather reconnaissance flight up to the north pole or somewhere, and the wings iced up, the plane went down and was never found - they weren't in combat, and the flight was not necessary..but boys will be boys....anyway max is Johnny's dad, and died when he was about four months old..so he never knew him. His mum, my auntie Terry, never got over his death. She died about three years ago.
My dad had a younger brother, Bill who simply dies in his sleep about 6 years ago, aged 69. His younger sister, Sue, died of a brain tumour two years later, also in her 60s. My mum and dad subsequently died, and so, at all these funerals, I met my cousin Johnny with whom I had had very little to no contact all my life.

Hence why we were sitting sharing photo albums, and sharing stories of our childhoods, and our joint family history, both learning about each other and things we didn't know, and my cousin's wife also learning stuff about his history she didn't know. Some of this was extremely personal and painful so it was a close time of sharing and listening. This went on until 4,30 am, helped by a few cups of tea and the odd biscuit!

After breakfast on Sunday morning, the phone rang and Jean answered it. I could tell it was not good news, assumed it was a friend of Jeans, so I crept out of the kitchen to leave her to talk in private. Then I heard her say, 'Sal's here, do you want to speak to Sal?' (I will always be Sal to my family!) Who could be ringing there that I know????

I take the phone, and it is my cousin, Tobie, telling me that her mum, my aunty Joy has died. Joy was Bill's wife, and the last of that generation of family to go. Now they are all gone. Tobie was so shocked to find me at Johnny's..'I didn't know you were that close,' she said. 'Ah, all these bloody funeral have brought us together!!!!!' I said.

I have only been at Johnny's house twice in my life, one weekend last year, and now. Last year I didn't know him at all. Now I find, as I stand there, on the phone, with the tears beginning to fall, he walks into the room and puts his arms round me and just holds me. We are family. We have just lost our aunty. And just a few hours earlier, we had been looking at pictures together of Bill, Joy, and Tobie as a little girl and talking about them...what a bizarre coincidence...

And next week we will all be together at another funeral.........