SHOCK

It was a beautiful Sunday morning in May, Uncle Frank pulled out the old Mercury and Aunt Marie as was her habit sat in the back seat. I don’t know why she did that but she did!

Off to church they went that 1975 morning, and when they were done with their devotion to God, they returned home to find the police at their home waiting for them. Getting out of the car, they looked on apprehensively as the police approached them. They suspected something had happened to their son Nicholas, their only natural child. They had an adopted son named Billy, who went along to church that morning with them.

The police informed them that their son Nicky was found dead in his apartment in Greenwich Village.

I was at home when someone called me to tell me the news, and I kissed TLW (The Little Woman) and my two little babies goodbye and joined my parents as I drove to Franklin Square to comfort and share in the horrible news, the shock that is so overwhelming, especially when it is someone so young.

Having spent so much time with my aunt, she was like a mother to me, I was hurting for her. Nicky had gone somewhat on the flip side, involved in the drug culture and hanging around with the wrong crowd. It wasn’t a surprise that Nick’s life ended the way it did: we all suspected it might. He was a brilliant mind, a peaceful soul, but in with the wrong crowd, adopting the wrong culture.

When I entered her house, Aunt Marie saw me and hugged me, not letting go, sobbing as she did, and this went on for about 3 minutes, when finally my mother took her to a chair to comfort her baby sister.

Having lost a child, I know what coldness there is, what shock and what pain comes with it, when you lose a child like Aunt Marie did, you don’t know anything. I have a friend who has lost her son, in a similar fashion, and I noticed a similarity between my aunt and her, they both carried that scare and the pain in their hearts, but both have moved on. Both could be cheerful and kind, yet they remember and never forget.

This morning, as I write this, I know that there is great joy in heaven. Today Marie is reunited with her beloved Frank her husband, and Nicky her only biological son. When the last day comes, when her adopted son meets up with them, there will be total joy, and heaven will be indeed Heaven for Marie, the youngest of three sisters, the mother of two boys and the wife of a war hero.

Tuesday we will entomb her body with my Uncle’s down in Florida, and that will be that, we will continue to keep in touch with Billy and he will be assimilated into the family, and we will always remember Aunt Marie, the conscience of dirty eared little boys, the lady with the spot in her eye and the newspaper route in her 80’s. But most of all she will be remembered to me in my heart and soul for all she did to reach out to her nephew and give him back his hope.

Good bye Aunt Marie, we always loved you.