Datebook

Today was my aunt's funeral. It was beautiful. Full of love and laughter and music. Beautiful music.

I got to listen to my aunts,uncles, and cousins tell stories about Shelly. They were lovely. I found myself wishing that I could have half as nice stories told at my funeral.

I have a memory of Shelly from when I was about 9 or 10 years old. For my birthday she took me to lunch with her daughter Julie. We ate at Wasabi and I got my very own rice bowl. We went to some cute store next, and she let me pick out a gift of my choice.

I ended up selecting a green velvet date book, because what 9 year old doesn't have a need for a planner right? She tried to get me to buy something else, but I was adamant. I went home with that date book and I think I still have it in a drawer somewhere.

I treasured it. To me,it was a sign that I was mature, because mature people had datebooks. I wrote random events down, like church on Sunday or school on Monday. Every time I looked at that book, I thought of my Aunt Shelly buying it for me. I'll always remember that.