Remembering Aunt Jane

I debated whether to mention this here, but so many of you have read my posts about my beloved Aunt Jane over the years that I wanted to let you know she passed away on Wednesday, and my family would sure appreciate your prayers as we prepare to say goodbye to her. Daddy had asked me to put something on Facebook that night so that friends and family would quickly hear the news, and before I wrote a post, I combed through some of my photos of Aunt Jane online. I am almost always the photographer at family events, so I was happy to find a photo of the two of us enjoying my niece's bridesmaids tea at the Swan House in Atlanta last fall.

It occurred to me that some of my favorite photos of my late mother and my aunt involved teatime, which I came to enjoy late in life. I wasn't a little girl who grew up having tea parties or going to them, and I was probably close to thirty before I ever had hot tea! Thank goodness the ladies in my family had so many happy teatimes together. This photo of my mother and Aunt Jane was taken at my house back before I married, and I love how happy they look. I strongly suspect that in addition to delighting in being in the presence of the Lord, we'll enjoy new teatimes when we get to heaven, and I'd love to think this is what it looked like for Aunt Jane sometime after she got there.

And this was another teatime, at the original Tea Leaves and Thyme in Woodstock, where my mother, aunt, sister, and nieces enjoyed tea together. Aunt Jane may have been mentally challenged, but she always, always enjoyed eating out. You can probably imagine how precious these teatime memories are to me now. So I'll close 2023 with a very personal post and my wish for you and your family to enjoy a happy and healthy 2024 together!