March 26, 2013. Jackson, MS. Aunt Miriam.

When my sister Carol died, many pictures were sent to Dave and Irene.   Marion and Mary Kay carefully sorted and separated the photographs so each family received a pile.   The Buckley stash were sent to Dave and Irene.  They in turn sent the appropriate pictures on to us.    Several pictures were taken at the wedding reception of my niece Wendy, in the home of  Dave and Irene in 1980.    Several of the pictures are of my Aunt Miriam.

Aunt Miriam was three years older than my mother and was always very proper.  She was very pretty as a young woman but did not marry until her mid fifties.  In fact, I was her bridesmaid.  The photo of me in the wedding is now in the upstairs hall of the old farm house.   We never lived in the same city as my aunt, until we moved to Toronto and by then I was too busy to pay much attention to her.   My father actually never much liked Aunt Miriam as she liked to tell my mother what to do.  My aunt was a very able, gracious lady.  She was in charge of the women's services for Canada for The Salvation Army.  When she retired, she took a position as Chaplain at the Grace Hospital.

At that anniversary event, the family became aware that Aunt Miriam was getting senile.  In the pictures she is smiling but looks frail.   The whole extended family was there, and Aunt Miriam was enjoying herself.  We all thought she was doing well, until she turned to Irene and said "I am having a wonderful time.  Of course, I have no idea who all these people are, but they are nice to me and I am enjoying the afternoon."  Oops, we said to each other.  Aunt Miriam had slipped.  It was not long before Aunt Miriam was in Grace Hospital herself.  Those pictures reminded me of the old story.