Tia Margot.

I've always wondered what my aunt was up to since she left Mcallen and when I googled my aunt's address earlier this year I knew that I had to get in touch with her. I was trying to get a hold of her to let her know about my mom and when I was on my way to see my niece I decided to go see her. See, they both live within 30 minutes of each other and I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. Even though it took me forever to get a hold of my aunt I knew that I had to keep trying. I finally got a text back from her but it wasn't very sensible. I kept calling her to let her know that her sister (my mom) died but to no avail. She wasn't picking up or answering the texts right away. When we finally arrived I now knew why and I will explain that in a minute. 

First, I want to mention what a delightful treat it was to see my niece and her sweet little family. I love being a great auntie and meeting her baby girl for the first time was such a joy! It totally took away the grief of losing my mom for that moment. Holding her (even though she would cry for a bit) and loving on her was the greatest thing. She is such a doll and I'm so thankful for this little human. I won't post too many photos of her because I respect my nieces privacy but she truly is a precious little doll. We had a fun little visit and hopefully next time we see each other it'll be longer visit! 

So back to my aunt. I hadn't seen my aunt in over 20 years and when I saw her and told her about my mom she almost fell to the ground. I can see the pain and hurt in her eyes when I uttered those words in Spanish. The regret I saw in her eyes was to hard to bear. I felt so sad for her. Here I was upset that she was not responding to my texts and not talking to her sister for years and when I saw her I could see why. Sitting with her for four hours and hearing her repeating herself reminded me of my mom. I knew then that she is on the same path as my mom when she first got diagnosed. I know dementia runs in our family. My grandfather died of ALZ and my mom battled dementia for years. It's inevitable and I know my aunt is  in the early stages of it. 

As I was sitting next to her across from Jon and Noah I could see then look on their faces when she would repeat herself and say the same thing five times in a matter of four hours. It was heart breaking. I'm glad that she has a companion who will take care of her and that he has a son that lives behind them to watch over them. I won't get into much detail but I pray for my aunt everyday. She has no children of her own to watch over her. I pray that her and her man will take it easy and that he will take good care of her. I wish we lived closer so that I can keep an eye on her. I'm glad she still remembers us but I know that in time she could get worse. It doesn't matter how much education one has because my aunt was a principle for over 30 years and her memory is going. 

Although the visit was bittersweet I am so happy that I never give up on the people that I love. It's so important to check up on them. It's not hard to send a text or to try to call them. Time in this life is short and if we heed those promptings to never hesitate on acting upon them. I'm so glad that I contacted my aunt and physically drove to her house. In all my years I never thought that I would love my people so much. Even the ones that didn't talk to you the most. I wasn't very close to my aunt at all growing up and when I saw her after 20 years it felt as if I had talked to her yesterday. My love for her was even stronger. So stay close to your loved ones. We never know what's going on in their home without us checking in on them. Now I know why it was so difficult to get straight answers via text from her and why she wouldn't call me. She didn't recognize my number. 

Anyway, maybe one day I will write a book about my family and dementia and my thoughts on it. It's such a cruel disease. I only hope that I won't get it anytime soon but it does run in our family so...who knows. Time and my mind will tell....