Family reunion

My Auntie June and Uncle John had five children: three sons and two daughters. The eldest, Nick, died at 26 in a driving accident. Uncle John himself died in his seventies following a heart attack. Angela, the younger daughter, survived cancer in her twenties only to succumb in her forties. The elder daughter, Liz, bouncing with health and enthusiasm for life, contracted pancreatic cancer late last year, and in May we buried her. I wondered then how June would cope with another bitter loss. In fact she coped pretty well, with her usual determined focus on her family (including six granddaughters and several small great grandchildren); but then she was found to have a brain tumour and soon she followed her husband, eldest son and both daughters into this little Warwickshire churchyard. Her last weeks were lucid and pain-free, and her son Charles was with her when she died. All in all, not a bad way to go, and with June it somehow never felt like a life of tragedy. There were always horses, dogs and people to be taken care of, fed and watered. 

John's grave was reopened to make room for June. Nick's headstone is on the right of the picture, Angela's just in front and out of shot. Liz's grave is temporarily under the mound of earth to the left; I'm not sure if it even has a stone yet. 

It was strange for the extended family to be gathered here again only six months on from the last time, and there was general agreement that we need to get together when no one has died. The last such occasion was hosted by Liz, so someone else will need to step up.