The Loss
Here's grief again. It started with a phone call from my brother. I wished him a happy birthday and he returned my greeting with a sullen voice. "I guess you haven't heard yet", "What?" I answered. He returned my question with the news that my favorite aunt, and come to think of it, my only surviving aunt was dead. "What? WHAT?! What?!!" I stammered. Only weeks earlier I had received news that my mother had suffered a stroke, so I was expecting him to say something about her. But this time it was her twin. Her alter ego. Her best friend. Judy was everything my mom wasn't, and my mom possessed the qualities that eluded Judy. They were yin and yang. Opposites in many ways, but when they were together they were a site to behold. My mom was the driver, Judy picked the restaurant, unless Joni objected to the cuisine. They could talk for hours about the past, their kids, their grandkids. They’d giggle about each other. Mom ...