She will be missed.

At this very moment most of my family on my mothers side is gathering in Worcester, MA at the funeral of Kathleen A. Foley, better known as Auntie Kay.  She has been the matriarch of our family for 40 plus years and will be truly missed by many.  I am sad that I could not make it out there; if there was one funeral I wanted to make it to it was hers.  She of all people would understand.  I did make it out this summer to visit her.  It was great; it had been three years since I had seen her.  My cousins T2 and Danny went with me. I brought her sugar as usual and I made her take pictures with me, which she was not super happy about, but it made her laugh.  We did one of my FAVORITE things to do with her, looking at old photo albums.  I loved listening to her tell stories of the past; watching her face light up when she would see someone she hasn’t seen in ages, pointing out people in the pictures that we didn’t know, listening to her laugh when she would see images of her as a teenager goofing around with her girl friends, talking about Circuit Ave, etc, etc.  And while she is getting lost in her youth she has three of her great nieces and nephews on the edge of their seats with every word she is saying.  I remember having a moment when I was there; I looked at T2 and Danny and smiled seeing the same feeling in them that I had in myself sitting there in her very tiny apartment.  It was a feeling of admiration and love all mixed together, we could have sat there all morning and listened to her talk about her life.  It was a great morning; I will truly miss those visits.

I must say I am proud that my three brothers will be a part of the service as pall bearers; I know our mother would be proud and although I haven’t spoken to them personally about their feelings, I know that means the world to each them.

She has been and always will be an important woman in my life and I will miss her tremendously.  

So here is what I picture...  Auntie Kay is making her last walk down the boardwalk to the beach. Just as she comes up over the dune she sees everyone: lounging in beach chairs, lying on blankets, swimming in the water, cheering as she steps into the sand.  She has a big beautiful smile on her face, finds a chair, wiggles her feet in to the sand, grabs her Manhattan and everyone toasts the ferry.  

Love you Auntie Kay. 

Eileen