I am very sorry to share the news that my aunt passed away over the weekend.  Aunt Mary was my only aunt by blood (rather than marriage; Madame Mommy Dearest‘s only sister), as well as my godmother & a fellow Scorpio.  And she could be so funny & so much fun! :img25

Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 27, suffering with the disease for over 30 years.  It took everything from her, forcing her to live inside a body she couldn’t control for the majority of her life before stealing a great deal of her mind, too.

Aunt Mary always downplayed how bad things were, wanting us to believe she was doing better than she was…but of course, we knew. And she began to go downhill drastically over the past few years, as we could all tell from our phone conversations with her & the letters she still struggled to write.

Just last week, Madame Mommy Dearest & one of her brothers drove to Mary’s hospice in Schenectady, NY, to visit her one last time.  I guess it was awful.  We all knew she was in bad shape, but I’m not sure anyone realized just how bad that shape was.  She was completely bedridden, barely able to move or even hold her head up on her own; she’d lost so much weight, she was nothing but skin & bones; she was almost completely blind & could barely even speak; & she must have been in terrible pain because she continually asked for more medication, even though they would only give it to her every seven hours.  (Why she wasn’t on a morphine drip, I have no idea. :img36 )

When MMD & her brother returned, my uncle said he didn’t expect Mary to make it to the Fourth of July…but after seeing the pictures they’d taken during their visit, I knew she wouldn’t make it nearly that long.  And sure enough, two days after they returned, we got the call that Aunt Mary had passed away.

We are all terribly sad…& yet we’re also incredibly grateful.  Mary suffered far too long & far too much; it’s a blessing for her to no longer be in pain, trapped in a life that lacked even a hint of joy. :img22

Thankfully, I have a few wonderful memories of being with her, like the times Gram & Gramp would bring her to stay at their house for a couple of weeks & I would go up, too.  We would have double birthday parties (both early November, both Scorpios :img13 ) & I would push her in her wheelchair downtown where we would window shop the local stores & have ice cream sundaes at an old Murphy’s department store. :img8  She always wanted me to put makeup on her, especially lipstick, & I would tease her about having no lips… (I’m sorry, but she didn’t!  It was nearly impossible to put lipstick on them!) …& she would tease me about my outlandish crush on Johnny Depp.

But Aunt Mary was also quite particular; she didn’t like people touching/moving her things or hovering, so she insisted on living far away from the rest of the family, & even when her health started to get worse, she refused to move (or allow us to move her) closer. Even when the time came that she had to be moved into a home/hospice, she refused to go to one closer to any of her brothers or sister, so none of us were able to visit her as often as we might have liked.  We had to rely on phone calls, & toward the end MMD & I both made a point of sending a card or note every day so she would receive something in the mail each day.

I’m not sure yet what arrangements the family will make for her funeral, so if posts here (as well as on Facebook & Twitter) are sporadic or I seem a little distracted, you’ll know why. :img21

https://youtu.be/q4egb2gpIg4

Happy Sunday, Dungeon dwellers!  How y’all doin’ this week? :img10

It’s been a semi-decent week here at Casa del Heidi…

This week, I AM HAPPY that another bi-annual dentist appointment is out of the way, with no need for further work before the next one.  As usual, my teeth were declared practically perfect in every way, & I was sent off with a bright smile & a new turquoise toothbrush.

I AM HAPPY that while I was out & about, I found an adorable Winnie-the-Pooh mug at a hospital thrift store, in perfect condition!  Have I mentioned how much I love all things Winnie-the-Pooh & how I’m moderately obsessed with collecting every Pooh and Friends mug ever created?  Yeah, slightly obsessed…at least with the uber-cute ones. :img24

I AM HAPPY that Sears replaced two of my flat-screen televisions that had damage to the lower screens—for no apparent reason—free of charge.  Well, okay, there was a teeny-tiny up charge because I decided to replace the 22″ sets with 28″ ones, but otherwise all I had to do was drop off the broken televisions & pick up the new ones. :img25  Now to get them installed, since I’ve also decided that I want them to be mounted on the walls rather than sitting precariously on tabletops…you know, with The Kittehs running around like crazy flakes every so often. :img19

Maybe having a working television in my office/exercise room again will even get me back to my weights workout. :img5

I AM HAPPY that I was able to watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier on the Torture Cycle this past week—one of the movies I recorded during the recent HBO/Starz/Epix/Cinemax free preview weekends we had.  Yes, it’s only one of many, but getting it watched means I was able to delete it from the DVR. :img23

I will say, though, that I really enjoyed it.  I don’t remember much at all about Captain America: The First Avenger; about the only thing I recall is how strangely bobble-headed Chris Evans looked when they CGIed his head onto a lanky, somebody else’s body. :img31

But this one had more characters I was familiar with, more action that kept me riveted, etc.  Not to mention a bit of a spark between the Captain & Black Widow…I liked that!  I wouldn’t mind seeing those two get together, I must say. :img32

And finally, I AM HAPPY that my sweet little Tigger has been unusually happy lately.  The kitteh who used to keep to himself & stay downstairs most of the time has been spending more time upstairs & doing a lot more playing with toys.  He makes the sweetest little sound when he’s playing!  It almost sounds like a help me, I’m hurt! cry—& I did jump up to check on him the first time I heard it—but it’s not; it’s his happy cry. :img26

I’ve even woken up a few times to find his toys in bed with me. Pom-poms, foil balls, even a stuffed catnip mouse once.  Never used to happen, but now that he’s on Anxitane for some of his anxiety & behavioral issues, he’s so much more fun—both by himself & with others! :img13

So how about you guys?  What’s been going on with you this week?  And what are you happy about or grateful for that you’d like to share with your fellow Darlings?  We’re all waiting to hear! :img4

Where Are They Now? — Cruella de Ville