The McKain tribe lost another member — the funeral for my cousin, Sue Lauster, was today.
Sue was the daughter of Dad’s sister, Ethel. Oldest of the cousins — closer in age to Dad’s baby sister, Shirley, than she was to any of us — she felt more like an aunt. She and my Aunt Shirley were inseparable from the start.
During adulthood, they went to dirt track races together, lived together for a time, and enjoyed mushroom hunting together every spring. That special bond continued — the bond you can only have with a relative that’s also a friend — until Shirley’s passing. Sue lost a daughter (close to my age), 5 months ago today. Incredibly difficult on the immediate family to lose a mother/grandmother… sister/grandmother… in a such short timespan.
Sue — and her daughter, Jamie Lee — will be missed.
I received a couple personal calls during the funeral. Although I turned the ringer off on my phone, my arm vibrated like crazy each ring as my watch alerted me. It also vibrated to let me know that Tom Judd — my principal from high school now minister — was stretching the eulogy out too long and it was time for me to stand up. 🙂