Rita Lazarin died on Friday, April 1. She was 58 years, 5 months, and 21 days old. She doesn't have any streets or park benches named after her. In fact, she actually did jail time. Now that I write this and think about government, these two facts are not mutually exclusive. Any way, she's no longer with us.
Rita was one of eight children born to lower middle class California immigrants. She earned her living as a nurse until she fell in with a bad crowd. There were drugs, alcohol and too much partying. All of those things resulted in an early death from the complications of diabetes.
Rita was also the warmest, friendliest, most giving aunt I had. And I have and had a lot of aunts as both Mom and Dad have 7 siblings apiece. My sister and I used to tease each other, saying "hurry up and have a kid, so I can be an aunt." Rita never had children of her own. She helped raise all of us, my cousins and me. She was especially close to my sister, until the drugs and everything. That was a bad time. I know Rita was sorry but there was nothing that she could do. The damage had been done, not just with my sister but with my grandmother, my other aunts and her other nieces and nephews.
On Thursday, Rita will be remembered. She will then be cremated and placed on a mantle next to her sister, my Aunt Gloria. I didn't have a blog when Gloria died, and I will share her story later. It's sad too. But just the idea that you and I are thinking about Rita and Gloria is a good thing. I wish there were here to read about themselves.
this one is really touching. i have tears in my eyes right now. i, too, wish that they would have read this.
Posted by: mom | April 04, 2005 at 08:41 PM
Hi Susan,
Sorry to hear about your Aunt. I know how close you are to all of them. I'll keep Rita in my prayers.
I think it's great that you have a forum for memorializng her here on the web and you've done so so nicely.
Chris
Posted by: Chris | April 06, 2005 at 01:15 PM
Sue,
So Sorry to hear about your aunt's passing. It is clear that you will miss her, my heart and prayers go out to you for your grief.
hm
Posted by: hm | April 11, 2005 at 08:08 AM