To say that I've had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad WEEK is putting it lightly.  My great-aunt died and the wake is tomorrow, my aunt and godmother almost died and thankfully is barely making it out of ICU tomorrow or Friday, depending on how she does.  Some people have families that their largest cohorts tend to be younger; ours has mostly been the opposite.  The largest piece of our family were 8 sisters and one brother who are two generations behind me.  As a consequence, by the time I was reaching adolescence, they were approaching old age and naturally began dying off.

The wake tomorrow is for the next to last of the sisters, and the last one is suffering from Alzheimer's in a nursing home.  From when I was 14 until now, it seems that the news is always who's dying, who's dead, and after a while it gets to you.

On the plus side, and on the same side of the family, there has been a noticeable increase in weddings and  births.  The cycle is coming around again, and these are the daughters and grand-daughters of the original set of sisters and brothers, so there is some balance to the family.  I think the difference is that we've always been closer to the original sisters since my aunt never married, and since both of my direct grandparents died early, others of the great aunts and uncles stepped into their place.  As a result, we relate less to our cousins who are marrying and procreating, and closer to those in the twilight of their life.

All I know is that it hurts every time we do this.  I'll survive it, but there are times when it just flat out is terrible emotionally.  Hopefully the holidays will help to celebrate those who are still here.