Goodbye, Aunt Karen

My Aunt Karen passed away last night after a long battle with cancer. She had been in a lot of pain recently. Her suffering is over now. I'm sad that she's gone.

This blog is usually loaded with pictures of my kid and my goofy musings, but today I'm just going to post a few things about my Aunt Karen.

She used to live down the street from us in Falmouth, MA.
She used to make me nachos with microwaveable cheese.
My mom never bought cheese dip, so this was exciting.
She'd let me watch cable tv.
She used to cut my hair.
She gave me my first perm.
I looked poodle-esque, but at the time (1988) it was rad.
She had a wonderful Boston accent (like most of my family) and said things like, 'Oh my gahhhd! No sah!"
She was hilarious.
She had a great laugh.
She had fun at the family reunions.
She'd drink, smoke and play cards.
She'd sing.
She had a beautiful singing voice.
My whole family is loud and when everyone would start yelling at family funtions (joyfully--not in anger. we're a happy, loud bunch) she'd turn to me with a smirk on her face and say, "Is it loud enough in here?"
When I was 10, I had a Halloween party for my birthday and she came as the wicked witch and her husband, my Uncle David, came as a nerd. Their costumes were perfect!
She did her whole face in green make-up with a big fake nose with warts and everything. I was impressed.
She was kind.
She had a good heart.

Goodbye, Aunt Karen. We'll miss you.